Artemis Fowl: Fairy Revenge
by Tiki Rane Gobell
Summary: Holly's on leave and in Ireland staying with Artemis when they recieve word that Foaly has been horsenapped. The protagonists travel to Atlantis to find that all is not well below ground, nor will it soon be well for the aboveground inhabitants.
1. Intro

The Fairies are ready for revenge? What had happened to the once peace-loving mythical creatures? Artemis Fowl, Holly Short, Butler, and Mulch once again must join together to save the fairy and human worlds. Here's a quick summary of my Artemis Fowl fan fiction: Holly's on leave and in Ireland staying with Artemis when they receive word that Foaly has been horsenapped. The protagonists travel to Atlantis to find that all is not well below ground, nor will it soon be well for the aboveground inhabitants. The new Commander of the LEP, Ark Sool, is stirring up trouble and convincing the People to retake the aboveground world for themselves.

Wow! I can't believe I'm already done with fic. I think I'll write another. 

Later,

Tiki Rane Gobell

Writer's Concerns: I'm afraid I'm not a great writer, but as I said above, I hope you might like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl. This story is simply a boredom-relieving activity. Artemis is Eoin Colfer's brainchild, I'm simply baby-sitting. No plagiarism is intended by anything henceforth.(That's all to make sure I save my butt)


	2. Cause for Vacation

**Chapter 1**

**The New Commander and the Cause for Vacation**

Haven, LEP HQ:  
Commander Ark Sool, highest in command in the LEPrecon unit, sat in his luxury office chair and smoked one of Root's old fungus cigars. He imagined his old rival's face in the smoke and shook his finger at it saying, "See old Beetroot? I beat you eventually."

Revenge was so sweet to Sool. He had waited years for this promotion and, though true he himself had not finished off the old commander, he had been the one to sign all of Opal Koboi's requests for government financial backing for her work.

It was now time to clean out all of Root's trash. Those officers, council members, and average citizens devoted to that Root! Even after he was dead! They would pay dearly for keeping that old hot-head in power for so long.

As for his other enemies, Holly Short had already quit the force. There was one enemy out of his way. Perhaps, if she ever showed her face again he would have his spacial sniper squad take her out...permanently. Then there was this Fowl boy and his manservant. If they ever intervened with the People again, they could consider themselves history. In fact, they will be at the top of the endangered humans list when Sool made his move.  
But as for the fairies Sool could get rid of now, there was always that cheeky centaur and the council member Vinyaya. They would shortly be recycled just as Root had been. Death would come shortly to all those who oppose the new Commander of the LEP. Soon, he would become the first Fairy King in 200,000 years. A king that would that back the above world from the humans. His plans were in motion.

Fowl Manor:  
Artemis Fowl lay in bed think of the past year. In this time, Holly Short, a fairy private eye and close friend to the now 15-year-old boy, had called Artemis for help on her very first case: a mysterious disappearing painting. Artemis, Holly, Butler, and Mulch had banded together once again to solve a fairy mystery, albeit one on a less grand scale than they were used to. They had, of course, received help from their gifted centaur friend Foaly and caught the unfortunate villains: a mischievous rock sprite gang.

Rock sprites are unique. Their magic is from the deepest parts of the earth and so the rock sprites have been given the ability to sink through solid rock, much like a water sprite trough water. Rock sprites also have wings and so can fly, like giant mosquitoes. Not the most pleasant picture, but at least they don't suck blood. Perhaps the most unique fact about rock sprites is that there are only 20 known in existence. Being creatures of such little stature makes them band together in what scientists call "gangs."

This particular gang of rock sprites had 15 members, so most of their population was terrorizing Haven's art museums. BUt that's usual behavior for such a sprite. Scientists have discovered what they call a M-gene unique to rock sprite DNA. This M-gene creates a overly-powerful urge to cause mayhem and general mischievousness.

The sprites led Holly and her team on a merry little race around the world before Artemis and Foaly were able to devise a plan to stop these creatures-not easy because they can slip through or evade every sensor, net, and containment device.

However, finally, on the banks of the Mississippi, Artemis learned that rock sprites hate water and it burns their skin like high molarity acid. They prefer prison than getting wet. After that epiphany, Foaly designed a special containment device for the little buggers which, essentially, was just a glass jar suspended in water.

As for how the rock sprites were able to get away with their stolen objects, apparently, the sprites, when in large numbers, could actually extend their rock-sliding abilities to an object and effectively pull the object along with them through the rock molecules. Thier getaway would've been a quick and clean one, but the M-gene made them unable to resist leaving a riddle behind to tease their would-be captors.

Unfortunately for them, Artemis Fowl the Second and been up the challenge presented by the riddle and had quite easily deciphered it. After all, he was a genius.

After chasing these sprites through the London Underground, across the Appalachians, and through every layer of the earth's crust, Artemis and the gang dispersed once again. Artemis had not heard from Holly for eight month's after that until a week ago. The newly fifteen-year-old mastermind, manipulator, and overall genius had just recently had a birthday. He was now living pretty quietly, except for that other painting heist after The Fairy Thief(that's a whole other story). Artemis was now focusing solely on being a teenage boy, albeit a teenage boy with the IQ of a centaur and the natural gifts of forming plans and getting into trouble.

Butler had gone to America to watch his sister become a wrestling champion. He would never normally leave his charge alone, but Artemis wouldn't be alone. He would have Holly Short with him. She had finally been able to attain a visa (not easy work, let me assure you) and now had two whole weeks to spend above ground, however she pleased and with whomever she pleased. Foaly had been able to pull some strings for her there. Staying with Artemis wasn't exactly legal, but Holly manage to shrug that off:she deserved a break! She had been working hard for almost an entire year as a private eye. Now, she was staying with the Fowls, by invitation of course. Fairies were forbidden by their book to enter a human dwelling without permission.

Holly was camped out in one of the many guest bedrooms in Fowl Manor. Her room was on the same floor as Artemis' but on an opposite wing. Shortly, it was a big house.


	3. The New Artemis

**Chapter 2**

**The New Artemis**

Artemis was still lying in bed with his eyes shut, remembering the past. He finally decided he could not lie in bed all day dreaming of the last year. His mother and father had been planning this day for a month. They were going to host a ball at Fowl Manor. Artemis had never been to anything like this before, but, nevertheless, he had promptly asked Holly to accompany him with all the hesitations, mumbling, and general stumbling that occurred when Artemis faced a situation that required regular social grace.

Foaly had just recently had a great breakthrough: a portable Holographer, as he called it. It was a small electronic device that easily could be hid in the fairy's clothing and project a three-dimensional image. For Holly, this meant that it could disguise the fact that she was a fairy by projecting humanoid ears over her own pointed elven variety. She could interact with humans without being discovered as an elf. With this new technology in her possession, Holly had agreed to come and the festivities were to begin that evening.  
Artemis could already hear his mother joyfully laughing downstairs. She was talking to Holly who was under the alias of one of Artemis' school friends. Artemis sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and savoring his mother's laugh. He then quickly took a shower and put on one of his favorite dark cotton suits to go join the others in the kitchen eating breakfast.

Artemis had truly changed, and luckily, it was for the better. His criminal drives were no longer the impulses driving him, not with so many people in his life trying to keep him on the straight and narrow. For truth, Artemis had only turned to crime to challenge his intellect and to uphold the family motto "Aurum Est Potestus" or "Gold is Power." But now Artemis had friends, people he trusted nearly as much as himself. He also had two parents now who both simply loved and enjoyed life. However, the biggest reason for his change was Holly Short. Not only had he come to respect the elf and trust her completely, but he had come to need her. She had taught him his faults during his kidnapping stage while still giving him back a sane mother, even after all the stuff he had put her through. Then, she proceeded to put her own life in danger to save his father from the Russian Mafiya in the Artic. Still later, she brought Butler back to life and once again risked her life to help steal the C Cube back from Jon Spiro. And if all this was not enough, Holly had saved Artemis' life when Opal Koboi had planned a rather wicked revenge on the boy. Holly was even now saving Artemis from destroying his life by crime by offering him a way to positively challenge his intellect with her new private eye job. The consulting business meant the boy could look forward to the next case and to seeing Holly again. Now, he was about 90 percent legal in all that he did. Every once and a while, Artemis would pull off another scheme and steal from those that needed stealing from, but in general, Artemis was a new boy and was nearing becoming a man.

Artemis slid down the railing of the stairs on his way to the kitchen. Now there is something he thought he would never be immature enough to do. Even Artemis noted his own change. He was greeted in the Kitchen by his mother, "Arty!" she said, "Come sit down with us. We were just having a bit of breakfast and talking about your school."  
At this, Artemis' piercing blue eyes wandered over to Holly's round brown ones. She looked thoroughly interviewed. Holly gave him a smile and said in a teasing voice, "Yeah Arty," enunciating his mother's pet name forcibly and with apparent joy, "remember that time you that teacher Opal Koboi off for believing in fairies, goblins, and trolls and yet not believing in centaurs? You easily out witted her."

Artemis tried to hide an embarrassed smile by mumbling something about logic. What was wrong with him? Since when did he mumble?

Holly could not stop herself, "Come on Arty, tell your mom about your school and all your friends. I'm going to eat some pancakes." With that, Artemis was forced to make up a string of lies about school and friends, all the while watching Holly out of the corner of his eye, who was nearly choking on her pancakes as she tried to stifle her snickers at Artemis' plight.

When his mother seemed satisfied with his account of school, Artemis contented his revenge by stealing a bite of pancake off Holly's plate, the bite with the most syrup of course. As Artemis sat down with his own plate of pancakes, his father came into the kitchen.

Artemis' mother got up a kissed him good morning, "Did we wake you dear?'  
His father shook his head as he answered, "No. Why? Do I look tired?"  
"Not tired, no. But it looks like somebody robbed you of your beauty sleep," teased

Artemis' mother.

Artemis knew this teasing would continue for a long time more, so he excused Holly and himself from the table as soon as they were both done. They went up to the library where Artemis had spent so much time plotting the crimes of the century. But no plotting did he do today.


	4. A Conversation with Mulch

**Chapter 3**

**A Conversation with Mulch**

Review of last chapter: Artemis and Holly had just gone up to the Manor's library because they knew they would not be overheard and could talk freely about the People and their past experiences.

"Outsmarted my teacher Opal Koboi? What made you come up with that?" asked Artemis.

"Well, A-r-t-y," Holly chuckled as Artemis rolled his eyes, "Your mother was quite questioning this morning and that was the best code I could think of so I wouldn't be lying to her, even though it wasn't that exact truth. I'm an honest creature you know."

"Yes, I know...," Artemis smiled, "Honestly annoying, that is."

Holly pulled out her pocket communicator casting an evil look at Artemis that would have put fear into Butler. Her communicator was a high-tech fairy version of a human walkie-talkie. Holly's communicator even had a view screen, just like the one Holly had given Artemis for consulting business.

Holly quickly found a signal and connected with Mulch Diggums, dwarf thief extraordinaire and good friend to the two, even though his kleptomaniac ways often landed him ahead of an LEP Pursuit team.

"Mulch here, whatcha need Holly?" ask Mulch as his head filled the view screen on the communicator. HE was eating something, as always. Today it looked like a two-foot peanut butter and bug jelly sub.

Holly shrugged, trying to ignore the dripping bug jelly, "Oh, just checking in. Any new cases?"

"Nope. You know Holly, you really should be trying to enjoy your vacation, not checking in for a new case. Do you hate the mud boy that much?"

Artemis popped his head into view of Mulch's screen, "Yeah, I am right here. I can leave if you two would like to talk about me." Always sarcastic.

The sarcasm might have whistled as it flew over Mulch's head and he still would not have noticed it, "No, Fowl, you can stay. Anyway, Holly, if you really want a new case, there's some good news. I talked to Foaly yesterday and he said he might be able to get us a new client. Said he'd call today. I bet that centaur's forgotten though. Can't blame him though. He is not exactly supposed to be helping us do anything, and now, he had that Sool breathing down his back all the time, probably just can't find much free time."

Commander Ark Sool was a hot-headed (but not in a positive leadership way like Julius Root). Sool had been the internal affairs coordinator until Root's death convinced the council that the LEP needed a more controlling leader. Sool may be controlling, but he would not risk his rank for anything or anybody, which made him a bad LEP role model. He was not the easiest person to get along with, and if you were a past criminal, friend of Holly Short, or Holly Short herself, it was nearly impossible to get along with the gnome commander who hated your guts. Unfortunately, for our protagonists, they all fit the profile for Sool's most hated list.

The young elf private investigator nodded her head to let Mulch know she understood him. "That Sool is always out looking for ways to get Foaly fired. Luckily for us, Foaly doesn't have many faults. If that Sool ever did fire Foaly, the People would find themselves losing their edge against the mud men. Foaly's the reason we've been able to stay hidden so long."

Artemis followed the conversation, absorbing all the information instantly. He said, "I would surmise that things are getting pretty hot down there for Foaly then?"  
Mulch sighed, "Let's just say that things are getting hot down here for everyone. Sool has given the LEP more power than it's ever had and making life tough for ex-criminals like me."

After a moment of silence, in which everyone was absorbed in their own thoughts of the Fairy situation, except Mulch who was finishing his sandwich, Holly said, "Well, I guess just keep me informed. I still have the best of two weeks vacation left, and I plan on using them to their fullest. You know how to reach us if you need to Mulch, Holly out." Holly closed the communicator and put it back into her pocket.

Artemis asked, "So what do you want to do till the ball this evening? We still have a long time to wait."

Tapping a finger on her lips, Holly thought about it. "How about we take a walk through the garden that your mother keeps and then you can show me what you've been up to while I've been away."

Artemis complied and they strode down to a beautiful garden that had many workers stringing up lights over the plants in preparation for the coming festivities. They strolled through the garden, which individually both Holly and Artemis were thinking that it would have been a much nicer stroll if they would have had the courage to take the other's hand in their own. Neither would be the first to take that step though. It would be too weird as they were different species, and yet it would feel so right said the small voices in their heads.

Artemis then led Holly up to his room, or small apartment as it seemed. His room consisted of the average bedroom, but also had a huge bathroom, a living room, and a side door that looked as though it led to a small study. Artemis continued leading Holly until he was in front of the study door. He rested a hand on the doorknob.  
"Holly," he said, "I've had to entertain myself for an entire year almost without criminal activities. Therefore, I have taking up the hobby of painting. Are you sure you want to see my paintings?"

Now Holly was truly interested, "Painted and not forged did you say? Yes, of course I want to see them."

Artemis somewhat grudgingly turned the doorknob and then fumbled for the lightswitch in the darkness of the room. He flicked the switch on and heard an intake of breathe from Holly. The room was filled to bursting with his paintings. So were of ordinary things such as flowers or fruit, others were of humans, but the majority of the paintings were of the People.

"Oh, Artemis! They're beautiful, but could they expose our existence?"

"No, holly. People have been painting pictures of fairies for centuries. You will notice, perhaps, that I have neglected to paint any of your technology into the pictures. That is to insure that your existence is never brought into question."

Artemis continued walking to a corner with a white sheet draped over it. Artemis silently slid the sheet off and folded it up, stowing it on a shelf behind him. He once again her an intake of breathe from Holly and turned around to find her staring at a picture.

The picture was surrounded by a collection of different paintings of their past experiences together: Holly and Butler face a troll in the lobby of Fowl Manor, a healing in the Arctic, four figures approaching a half-sunken ship in a frozen sea with the water slightly glowing from radiation, Holly and Artemis in swirling water with their foreheads pressed together for comfort, but the last one was the one Holly was staring at with tears in her eyes. The picture was not finished yet, but it was unmistakably Julius Root, murdered by Opal Koboi. Holly's father figure.

Holly was engrossed in sobs that shook her entire body. Tears sprang from her eyes and she felled to her knees, head in her hands. Artemis watched her crying and then knelt down beside her putting a comforting arm over her shoulders. She fell into his embrace, crying into his shoulder. Artemis felt sorry that he could not join in on this emotional display and remained his usual stoic self. He whispered softly in her ear, "Holly, I've been painting this one of Root for you. As soon as it is done, it will be yours to keep."

Holly continued crying into Artemis shoulder for sometime. Eventually, she got in control of her emotions and looked up into Artemis' cold blue eyes and said, "Thank you Artemis. Just…thank you."

And then she broke the boy's embrace and rushed to her room before another emotional display overtook her. Artemis knew he should feel sorry for his elven friend's distress, but he was quietly overjoyed that they had been able to sit there so long with Holly in his arms.

Holly's good nature returned later that afternoon when they met up for lunch and neither mentioned that morning's adventure to the other. Artemis' mother was also in the kitchen. She informed them that Butler was due back from America that very night. The afternoon continued on into evening…


	5. Let the Games Begin

**Chapter 4**

**Let the Games Begin**

Council member Vinyaya sat eating her breakfast: Oatmeal and tea. Not exactly tasteful, but her age had weaned her from sugar and food coloring. She was an old elf with much knowledge. This is why she had been elected to the council and why she was a wing commander. Her insight helped make the right choices for the People.

The council had been in charge of the People for 200 millennia. It was a form of government set up by the fairies after the overthrow of King Liric who had ruled as a tyrant for 900 years. This was all when the people still lived above ground and long before humans began to multiply on the Earth. When the people had finally received their freedom following King Liric's demise, they set up the council as a form of democracy to protect themselves from such an event happening again…or so they thought.

Vinyaya's face showed hatred and determination as she thought of Ark Sool's plot. He had grown too powerful and was now threatening the People's freedom. The worst part of it was, the People had no idea that it was going on. Sool had created himself a special assassin force that "took care" of anyone with thoughts of disclosing the information to the people. Sool was going to bring war upon the mud men and initiate a genocide. But Vinyaya was not going to give in so easily. She would not sit and allow her people to terrorize an entire race that is completely unaware of their resistance. She was going to stop this…this murder! Vinyaya was going to speak at a conference that would be broadcasted on PPTV. She sat finishing her breakfast and think about what she would say to make the people forcibly overthrow Sool's plans.

Outside her apartment, Sool's special police squad, or rather assassin squad, shuffled into position, waiting for the go-ahead from Commander Sool. The object: make sure Vinyaya does not become a threat; deadly force was authorized. The head of the squad checked in with Sool, "Commander, have we the go-ahead?"

Soot sighed. Why did special forces always have to use such weird lingo? "Negative!" the commander answered, "Hold your position and mark target. We're still waiting for the Foaly force to check in."

The Foaly force in question was having difficulties. There was no blind spot to sneak up to Foaly's control station. Sool agitated voice issued from the unit's communication system, "Foaly unit! Are you in position?"

"As close to it as we can be, sir."

"Well then, Foaly and Vinyaya forces, go-ahead confirmed. Proceed to fulfill your objectives!"

Soot chuckled to himself. He decided he would have to get a drink to toast himself when this operation was a success, and Sool had no doubts that it would be anything less than perfect.

Major Trouble Kelp stood outside the door, listening to the conversation. He smiled. He had passed on the right information and the plans were set! He crept back to his desk to file some more reports. Now, all he had to do was keep his nose clean, figuratively of course.

Foaly was just thinking about having some carrot bread for breakfast when he noticed a strangely dressed band of fairies rushing toward his control booth. He recognized the uniforms as those of Sool's "secret" force's. "So the power struggle is the begin now?" thought the centaur. Foaly had been preparing for this and had a plan ready to be put into action.

He pushed a button and smiled as he said, "Let the games begin, Sool!"

Fowl Manor  
Evening approached and Holly and Artemis had separated to get dressed and ready. Mrs. Fowl had gone through the trouble of picking out an absolutely beautiful dress for the elf. (Holly was grateful for this. Being a tom boy meant she had no talent in the picking-out-of-dresses field.) Mrs. Fowl had also hired someone to do Holly's hair and make-up- Holly felt spoilt with such attention. An hour later, Holly studied herself in the mirror. The Holographer only changed the shape of her ears, yet Holly barely recognized herself in her reflection. It could be the fact that, because she was no longer in the LEP, her crew cut was not mandatory. Her red hair had grown out and was now medium length and in curls. She had always loved her hair long.

She could hear music from a live orchestra playing downstairs. It was time to go meet Artemis. She stuffed her communicator into the purse that went with her dress, just in case.

Meanwhile, Artemis was fumbling with his cuffs . As the music started downstairs, he took one last critical look at himself in the mirror, pausing to fix a stray strand of dark hair, then he went to meet Holly. Their paths converged at the head of the stairs. Artemis blushed upon seeing Holly. She was beautiful! (In a pointy sort of black widow way as Eoin Colfer says) He mumbled a greeting then stuck out his arm for Holly to hold as he escorted her down the steps. Artemis was usually awkward in social situations, and his awkwardness seemed to multiply ten-fold in Holly's presence. "Just what was getting into this mud boy?" she wondered.

Holly took the proffered arm, sensing a growing bond between herself and the boy. But that was preposterous.! She was almost 80 years older than the boy! But then, her subconscious thought, her proportioned age of a fairy to a human was not much older that the boy. Not much older at all. With these confusing thoughts in her head, she descended the stairs with Artemis.

Holly gasped in awe. The downstairs was bursting with people. They were even spilling out into the decorated garden. The floor was a maze of people dancing back and forth, and, while not in complete unison, they all seemed to be following some unknown steps that Holly figured must be some sort of Mud Tradition. This was the part of humanity Holly had never found in any fairy textbooks: when the time called for such behavior, yes mud men could be violent, treacherous, and dirty, but they could also be polite, eloquent in speech and foot, and a perfectly agreeable and fascinating race. Perhaps, for the first time, Holly was actually seeing the good in humans. Was it possible to have an inter-species friendship…or even more? Holly roughly these thoughts from her head. How could she be thinking about that?

Artemis had been peering into Holly's eyes and noticed the struggle within her. What is bothering her? Is it me? he thought.

Holly saw his look of concern and quickly smiled. She laughed nervously and asked, "Aha, ha, um…What are we supposed to do now?"

Artemis stirred. He noticed that they were already at the landing of the stairs and had been standing there for quite a while. He mentally shook himself, "Do you know how to dance?"

"Are you telling me that you do?"

Artemis placed a pale hand on his chest, gesturing himself and gave his trademark vampiric smile, "Of course I do. I am a genius of all sorts. I'll lead."

"Well, that's the weirdest way any guy could've asked me to dance. At least he could've requested instead of stating." thought Holly, but said nothing out loud.

And so Artemis led Holly out onto the floor and they danced, lost inside the crowd of rotating couples. Holly breathlessly manage to ask, "Who are all these people, Artemis?"  
Artemis gave her a mock serious face and answered, "This may be the first and last time you hear me say this Holly, so listen carefully: I don't know."

Holly just laughed and continued to follow the boy's lead. The song had a mild beat, but it slowed down near the end. Her and Artemis were drawing closer, each just staring into each other's eyes, forgetting the crowd around them. There lips were getting nearer and nearer to each other, almost touching now, then…they heard a loud and familiar voice laughing uncontrollably nearby. The pair broke apart, the "kissing mood" had passed. They looked around, slightly embarrassed and found an out-of-breath Butler wiping away tears from his eyes from where he had been laughing so hard.

"What's so funny?" asked Artemis with a scowl.

"Nothing, except the irony of the situation. The first time Holly came to Fowl Manor, you had just kidnapped her, Artemis, and she hated your guts. And now look at you two! Friends dancing. Oh, the irony!"

Holly went and hugged the huge Eurasian man for whom she felt a certain camaraderie for. She decided to ignore the "irony" of the situation and instead said, "Welcome back Butler. How's Juliet?"

"Fine and still kicking butt in the Mexican Wrestling league."

"She should be," said Artemis with a bit of a smile, "She is a Butler after all."

Suddenly Holly started. Artemis raised an eyebrow at the fairy and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Maybe you should take the call upstairs in the library."

Finally Holly understood. It was her fairy communicator vibrating in her purse that had startled her. She quickly darted up the stairs with Artemis and Butler in her wake and another, uninvited and unknown person in their wake. She reached the library and pulled the communicator from her purse.

"Holly here."

Mulch's head appeared in the view screen. He look worried, maybe agitated , and he seemed to be upset about something. Of course, this was all from Artemis' point of view. Holly had not noticed Mulch's body language and asked, with a hint of excitement, "Has Foaly given you the new case yet?"

"Yeah, I'd say he did, but I don't think it's the one he had in mind," answered the dwarf. All of the Mulch's hair seemed to be quivering.

"What..?" began Holly but Artemis cut her off.

"What's happened to Foaly, where is he?" asked the pale Irish boy.

"That's just it," said Mulch, "Our new case is Foaly! He's been horsenapped!"


	6. Wild Horse Chase Part I

Chapter 5

Wild Horse Chase (Part I)

A/N: Yeah, it might take a while for the title to make sense...anyway, R&R please!

"Horsenapped?" gasped Holly.

Artemis, however, was not as easily flustered and instead of gasping, he began to collect information, "By whom and for what?"

Mulch shook his head, "Nobody knows. Sool thinks the centaur just ran for it, I suppose that means Sool had every intention of firing the pony, but all the news networks have been told that he was horse napped."

"Hold on," interjected Artemis, "Is horsenapped a real word? Never mind, it doesn't really matter. We need to meet in person, but where and how?" mused the boy.

Butler knew the answer to this one, "In one hour, let's meet at the rock-hand formation with the missing finger. You know the one, Mulch."

Mulch nodded, "Yeah, I know the one. But don't be late. Everything's going screwy down here!"

"What do you mean Mulch?"

"You just have to come and see, no time now to explain. I'll be waiting for you, Mulch out."

Holly turned the communicator off.

Artemis pushed them all into action, "Okay, let's all get changed into something we can save Foaly in. Butler, get my bag of tricks and yours as well. All right, in 7 minutes meet back up here and we'll plot our escape."

Butler was amused, "7 minutes exactly? Why 7?"

"It's a lucky number," answered the Irish youth, "Now let's all get moving. Time is of essence here! Oh, and Holly, I never thanked you for coming to the ball with me so…er…thanks."

For a moment, Holly paused, still thinking about the mud boy's rare show of gratitude. 'Perhaps a mud boy could change,' she thought. She snapped herself out of her reverie and went off to change. Butler was already halfway to his secret safe to his "bag of tricks." Artemis was left as the only one in the room, or so he thought.

"Good evening son. Were you just going to run off to save your fairy friend without even making up an excuse for your mother's and my benefit?"

This was an unexpected twist even for a millionaire genius. Artemis spun around to see his father emerging from the shadows of the room. "Father! You knew about the fairies?"  
Artemis Fowl the First gave a little chuckle as he replied, "I'm surprised at you son. You're a genius. How could I not know about the fairies when one rescues me from the Arctic, not to mention my son seems to run off with them almost every other month?"  
Artemis was exasperated, "But you were unconscious!" Then the boy's tone changed dramatically, he was almost pleading now, "You're not angry are you?"

"Angry? How could I be angry at a race who not only saved my life, but also saved my son's life. I have no clue what wild, haphazard adventures you have with your new friends, but they are saving your life…from yourself! Look at you. They have taught you respect. They have taught you what fighting for good feels like, and most importantly of all, they have taught you friendship. Your mother and I have spent your entire childhood trying to teach you these lessons, but it came down to you discovering them with the help of your new friends. No, son, I am not angry, rather I am happy and proud to have you as a son, even if you have to lie to us to run off with you different specied friends. So go on son. Learn life's lessons and go save your friend."

A tear collected on the side of Artemis' eye; he wiped it away with his sleeve quickly so that his father would not see his emotions. He tried to remain as stoic as ever as he headed for the door, but he paused halfway there. He then ran back and hugged his father saying, "Thank you." It was short-lived emotional outbreak, but it was enough and so he turned back around and ran back to his room to prepare for the adventure. How many curves could one day throw at him?

At the agreed upon time, the friends met back in the library. Butler had two huge bags stuffed with technical equipment, Artemis had a small laptop, and Holly had changed into a cham-foil suit. They had no idea what they were facing, so they prepared for everything.  
As they snuck out of the house, Butler whispered to Artemis, "Shouldn't we leave a note or something? Your parents will be worried."

The boy's eyes were nothing but mystery when he replied, "It's all taken care of, my friend. No need to worry."

Butler stared at the boy, but when it became clear that Artemis had no intention of going into further detail, he gave it up as a bad job and turned his attention to something more useful by saying, "I'll drive."

The three climbed into the Bentley and Butler drove to the Tara entrance; he already knew the way as he had been led there by Much Diggums last time the fairy world had been in danger. Artemis sat in the back in a meditative state, however, within the first five minutes, the boy had fallen asleep with his forehead pressed against the window.  
Holly had vouched to sit shot-gun next to Butler. Her mind and heart were racing. She was about to ask Artemis if he had a plan developed and was just about to turn around when Butler put his finger to his lips to motion to stay quiet and whispered, "Shhh…let him sleep. You should get some sleep too. We don't know when we might get the next opportunity to sleep.

Holly unwillingly complied. The last thing she felt like doing was sleeping, but she knew she'd be better off for it and so fell into a light slumber. Before long, she was being awoken by Butler. She dazily looked around, remembering where she was and where they were heading. The Tara entrance stood just ahead of them, about 50 yards off. Butler had parked the Bentley behind some bushes to help conceal its presence. Butler and Holly looked back to where Artemis was still asleep, and apparently dreaming, for he was muttering, "No! You can't have my acorns! Stop! Don't take my acorns! Oh, please, don't take them. I'll have my manservant snap your neck if you touch even one of my acorns!"

Needless to say, Artemis woke shortly there after to loud laughter coming for the front seat. Butler had tears streaming from his eyes while Holly couldn't be seen as she was rolling on the floor holding her sides.

Artemis loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. When they finally settled down enough to stare at him levelly, Artemis put on his strictest face and lectured, "This is a serious mission, people. What on earth or below it could be this hilarious?" Though he already had an idea that it was about him. His brain automatically sorted the facts he knew: I was asleep. Neither Butler nor Holly are good at telling jokes, therefore, I must deduct that…."Oh, great! Was I talking in my sleep?"

This question was met by renewed laughter and Artemis was turning red from embarrassment. He tried to withstand their outright enjoyment of his shame in silence, but when Holly asked him if he would really have Butler kill her if she touched one of Artemis' acorns, the boy had had all he could take of the other people's merriment.

"Okay, yes. Very funny. Now that we've all had a good laugh at the notorious Artemis Fowl, perhaps we can concentrate on our mission. Let me remind you people that Foaly's missing and we're already late to meet Mulch."

This shut the pair up quickly, however Holly and Butler could not look at each other for the rest of the night without one of them mouthing the word, "acorn," which, of course, made them burst out laughing again, and, in turn, scrambling to get out of the enraged boy's way,

However, back to the present, the three were making their approach to the hidden entrance that Mulch had made years ago. Butler led them to the rock formation that looked like a human hand, where he paused to push some bushes back to expose the hidden cave that luckily the LEP had not yet found. The clay wall that used to conceal its presence was missing do to Butler breaking through it a year previously. The three climbed in the tight cave and soon came to the hole Mulch had blasted in the air vent. The huge manservant was about to lower himself through the hole when urgently shouted, "No! That's too simple. Foaly would not leave something like this for an entire year."

"Perhaps no one's noticed it yet," suggested Holly. She was tired of the dark cave and only too well recognized the faint glow on its walls as dwarf spittle. It made her skin crawl and she was anxious to get out of the cave.

Yet Artemis persisted with his theory, "I don't think so. I believe that Foaly left this hole here to tempt someone to take it. He probably has the whole thing wired with sensors and monitored by the LEP. Here Holly, let me borrow your helmet."

He was referring to the one Holly had "commandeered" before she had left the force. It was highly advanced and equipped with a broad spectrum of sensors. Holly had given it to Artemis when she had first gotten it and the boy had disabled its uplink to the LEP and its autodestruct capabilities.

Holly pulled the helmet from a backpack she had brought along and handed it to Artemis. The boy slipped it onto his head and flipped through the different sensors, watching the hole for any changes. The fourth option he chose showed the ions that proved his theory that the hole had been left there on purpose. The hole was covered with an invisible network of probes and sensors that would easily give away their attempted break in. Artemis, however, was not dissuaded and instead turned his attention up and down the air vent, searching for where the ions ended and where it would be safe to burn a new hole for entrance.

About 10 feet off, Artemis saw the end of the sensors. He crawled to the area and pointed at a spot of the floor of the vent. "Butler," he asked, "Which of your guns would most effectively put a hole in this spot?"

Before Butler could answer, Holly had pulled a shiny new gun from a holster at her side. It was such a small gun, that neither Artemis nor Butler had even noticed it on her apparel. Though none of the gathered knew, it was officially called a Dipper, for it used sound waves that fairy and human ears could not hear as its method of concussion, however the small bird known as the dipper would be driven insane by the compressed resonating waves that, on the right setting, could shatter even the so-called shatter proof glass. The gun was a miracle of science and on different settings could be gentle enough to just knock a person out or, at a higher setting, straight through 12 feet of solid rock.  
Holly had selected a setting in between the two extremes and aimed the gun for where Artemis was pointing. The boy had barely had time to pull back his finger before Holly had pulled the trigger. The gun had the desired effect and Butler slid through the newly created hole to the ground eight feet below it. Holly followed suit and, after reaching the ground, turned around to help the mud boy who was always helpless in physical situations such as this. To her surprise, the Irish youth had already slid through the hole and was already landing when she turned around, bending his knees to cushion the drop. Holly noticed the ease in which he landed and shot the usually useless baggage a quizzical glance.

Artemis caught the questioning look and quickly supplied the answer to the question he knew the ex-captain wanted to ask him, "I've been working out with Butler. I finally remembered my promise to myself that I had made in the Arctic. I had promised myself that I would not just exercise my brain, but my body as well so that I could be more useful on our little adventures. And that whole 'Troll Nasty' ordeal motivated me to keep my promise."

Now that Holly looked for it, she noticed that the pale mud boy actually HAD bulked up some. He was still miniscule compared to Butler, but the boy was definitely not nearly as slight as he had been on the previous adventures.

Butler, meanwhile, was not checking out a certain mud boy's enhanced features, but instead was securing the area. One could never be too safe in unfamiliar territory. He called back to the pair, who had miraculously not fought the entire trip, minus a tease here and there, "Hey! Keep up! I can see Mulch ahead!"


	7. Wild Horse Chase Part II

**Chapter 6**

**Wild Horse Chase (part II)**

With Mulch in sight, Butler headed off, keeping within the shadows to conceal his presence. Butler now knew better than to sneak up on any dwarf from behind, especially this dwarf, so he contented himself by making a perimeter check to make sure there was no one around to ease drop on their conversation. Technically speaking, humans weren't allowed anywhere in the fairy terminals. It was best for him and Artemis to keep their heads low and avoid trouble for their fairy companions.

Once sure of the area's safety, Butler signaled to Holly and Artemis to follow him. Together they approached Mulch Diggums. The kleptomaniac dwarf was waiting by the entrance of a beat-up ship. Mulch had suspiciously acquired this transportation from heavens knows where, But it seemed to be in good working order when they climbed on board, each giving a brief greeting to the dwarf as they passed. Once inside, they noticed Mulch hadn't followed them. They took one sniff and turned right back around and disembarked.

Mulch saved the process of asking the question when he said, "Well it wasn't me. I got this from my great-uncle Larito. He was a vinegar smuggler. See, most sprites are very fond of vinegar and cucumbers, but the LEP have designated vinegar as a dangerous substance because of the whole baking soda thing. But anyway, to make a long story short, my great-uncle accidentally parked too close to the earth's core and the plastic bottles the vinegar were in..uh,well…melted. This thing hasn't been used in 83 years, so just imagine the stench before that. But I got it free, so we'll just deal with it. It has the best in anti-security protection from 83 years ago, great navigation's systems, and a decent sized and well stocked refrigerator. Oh, and some handy weapons for you Butler."

The three had no choice but to accept the vehicle as their transportation as time was short and Foaly was probably in trouble. Mulch grabbed a personal fairy computer and handed it to Artemis. They would hold their briefing outside the shuttle in an attempt to escape the smell. "I'm no good with briefings," Mulch grunted, "You can open the news programs from there yourself. The LEP made their official report already."

Artemis took the computer while Holly and Butler crowded in behind to watch the news report. Artemis easily manipulated the fairy keys and brought forth a high quality clip from the LEP.

A cheery looking pixie in a bright purple blazer shuffled the papers in front of her as she started, " The LEP have just released this announcement. Foaly, the centaur head of the LEP Technology Program of Peace and Fairy Protection (LEPT), has gone missing. I repeat Foaly is missing. Officials believe that foul play is involved, possible horsenapping. LEP confirmed today that the infamous Artemis Fowl, mud boy accused of kidnapping Holly Short, previous of the LEP Recon, is not involved. Repeat no foul on Fowl. However, Foaly's disappearance has suspicions aroused of Haven citizens. How safe is the population if the mind and power of the LEPT could be easily kidnapped? Please contact the LEP with any information you may have. Story update will be on PPTV later tonight. Stay tuned."

Artemis paused just long enough to look around at the wide-eyed faces around him. How could Foaly get horsenapped? He was the smartest fairy alive. Things didn't look good for Foaly's would-be rescuers.

Artemis closed the clip window and found four more that more-or-less covered the same information, but on different networks. If this was all the information they had, it would be impossible for the boy to form a plan of any kind. He was about to give up with the news networks when Current Fairy News' (CFN) site had an update.

Artemis immediately brought up the new clip. It was the same pixie as the earlier clip, except this time, her blazer was neon green. The pixie's face was grim. She tried to remain unemotional and professional through her presentation, but her voice was strained with the emotions she fought to keep inside. "The fairy world has been thrust into mortal peril following in the wake of Foaly's disappearance. Foaly's absence from the operations booth, from which he normally conducted his affairs, has somehow activated a virus. This virus is attached to every computer and every electronic device under the surface. It has already disabled every weapons system known to fairy-kind. The LEP believes this to be some kind of safety feature Foaly had built into the system to ensure the secrecy of the People. What is this virus' goal? Self-destruction of all it comes in contact with. Luckily for the fairy world, this virus won't completely destroy anything until another 16 hours, another safety built into the system. The LEP has 16 hours to deactivate this disastrous safety and save us all. They have their best technicians on the job at this very moment. Why must Foaly disappear now when all the fairy world needs him the most desperately?"

Artemis had had enough. He handed the computer back to Mulch expressing his dislike of the reporting, "Honestly. 'Why must Foaly disappear now when all the fairy world needs him the most desperately?' What a ridiculous question. It's obvious the program was designed to initiate in Foaly's absence. So many days after he wasn't there it would turn on and all of fairy world would turn off. The only safety it is, it that of job security for Foaly. The LEP can't fire him or all of their creations blow up."

Holly wouldn't have any of this. She restrained herself from punching the boy in the nose and instead contented herself with screaming in his face. "How dare you!" she screamed in a voice cascaded in emotion. Tears were springing to her eyes. Artemis already felt sorry for just saying what he had, however logical they may be, but Holly wasn't having any of his objective theories today, "How could you say that about Foaly. I remind you that he has saved your unworthy skin many a time mud boy! HE is my friend, and yours too, if you believe in such a thing!"

Artemis was stung by the last comment. Had Holly and him been getting along perfectly just a few hours before? How could she ask him such a question? Artemis did not let these concerns show on his face, but rather kept his pale cool demeanor and level voice, responding, "This has nothing to do with friendship Holly. I was merely making a logical conclusion on the basis of everything I know about Foaly. I believe we both know that the situation I have described is perfectly within the character of our FRIEND. It was you yourself who said that Foaly was under pressure in the office. Sool was after him to get him fired. Building a job security would not only be like him, but would also be a 150 percent reality. He's told me about it and its purpose. A FRIEND, and I emphasize the word friend, has accidentally put the People in danger. Now I suggest we control our emotions and get to the control box as soon as possible and with all haste. I may be able to put a stop to this from there."

Holly's clenched fists were trembling. She knew Artemis was right. Foaly would be the one to ensure his job in such a way. She just nodded and took her spot at the drivers chair in Mulch's transport pod. Once everyone was in and buckled, she threw the transport into its top speeds towards the LEP in Haven. Holly even threw in a few a few extra twists and turns to rattle the passengers a bit, especially one little mud boy. Needless to say, Holly still hadn't quite forgiven him for casting such a negative light on Foaly.

At the LEP Headquarters, Commander Ark Sool was also looking for information on Foaly. How had the centaur escaped his plan? Even more mysterious was that Council Member Vinyaya had managed to escape too. The furious commander punch a yellow button on his desk. It put him into contact with his secretary.

"Yes, Commander?" his secretary asked cheerfully, " May I help you?"

"Get Zango and Lobst in here now!" he screamed into a mike by the yellow button. Five minutes later two gnomes knocked on the door. Sool allowed them entrance and they stood in front of the commander's desk in a embarrassed silence. The two gnomes had on special emerald green suits with red X's on the sleeve which designated them as Majors in Sool's special forces unit.

Sool lit one of Root's fungus cigars and blew the toxic fumes into the waiting gnomes' faces. They tried not to breath and hoped that this briefing would not take long. Sool let the anticipation increase until he saw that both of his employees were turning blue from not breathing. "Tell me, " Sool demanded, "how a little old elf and a trapped centaur escaped from my two top hit-fairies."

The taller of the two gnomes, the one responsible for taking out the council member, choked on the smoke as he began, "We were following your orders, sir, and were waiting for the go ahead on the assassination. We had the old elf in our blaster sights and everything. Then, just as we were about to shoot, our guns, uh,..well, they lost power sir. While we were...erm...checking on the guns' status...Vinyaya just...disappeared. When we look back up she had just vanished like that!" said the gnome named Zango, snapping his fingers to further relate how fast the old elf had vanished.

"Just like that, huh?" asked the Commander mockingly. He was not about to look like the fool of this operation. As far as he was concerned, it was his hit team's fault for the failure. " And may I ask where she went? Did Vinyaya wave goodbye, or leave the room, or what? I hardly believe that disappearing form thermal imaging has become a hobby for the old elf."

Zango shook his head nervously, "I don't know how she did it sir. We turned on the thermal readers but the elf was no where in sight. I don't understand how she just vanished...completely."

Sool was growing angrier, and he turned to the other gnome, "Lobst! What do you have to contribute? Did Foaly just vanish or was he kind enough to wave goodbye?"

"Um...yes..com..ander." Lobst gulped. He didn't like being under pressure and he often lost the ability to speak.

"Yes what, Lobst? To the vanishing part or the waving goodbye part?" screamed Sool. His cheeks were beginning to have a red tinge to them, suggesting that he was about to go off on somebody.

"Bo..both parts, sir." Lobst stood up straighter as he tried to relate his story with dignity. "We were getting ready to take the control booth by surprise when the front window depolarized, allowing us to see inside the booth... He..Foaly that is...was just standing at the window, waving goodbye to us. we tried to force entry by blasting the door..but Foaly pushed some buttons and our guns went dead. We were trying to fix them when..."

Sool was able to finish the gnome's sentence, "when he vanished. The D'Arvitting centaur! He better hope that he's miles away by now, because if I get my hands on him, I swear I'll throttle the little pony's neck." The two majors quickly bowed out of the room to a commander pretending to strangle a certain centaur, but really only managing to tear up a lot of really important paperwork.

Holly, Artemis, Butler, and Mulch hurtled through passageways recklessly in their shuttle, sometimes within mere inches of the cave walls. Stalagmites and stalactites ensured a zigzagging pattern would have to be taken. Mulch had already puked twice and Artemis was just about to do the same when the entire ship's occupants jerked forward straining on their seat belts as Holly slammed of the brakes.

"We're here!" Holly called back turning and facing two pale humans and a greenish dwarf.

"I didn't frighten you, did I?" A quite rhetorical question.

Holly was already unbelted and getting out of the shuttle by the time the other three could see straight again.

"Hurry people! We have an emergency to attend to!" She yelled from outside.

They followed her slowly, still trying to keep whatever they had in the last week down. Mulch stumbled down the loading stairs to the ground and kissed the dirt wishing he had installed new gyroscopes in the ancient transport.

Artemis got out on shaking legs with a none-too-stable Butler behind him. The boy looked around, registering everything he saw as it might come in handy while investigating the crime.

The place was a zoo of fairies of all shapes and sizes. They were all wearing standard LEP uniforms. Artemis concluded that these were the techies assigned to counter Foaly's virus. Commander Sool could be seen right next to Foaly's control room door, ranting and raving to every fairy near to get him what he wanted now, or else...!

Charming thought Artemis. He began to descend the stairs but on the first step he stopped. The entire area had suddenly gone silent. Everyone paused in their tracks and everyone was staring at the mud boy.

One gnome, short and fat, completely lost it, "Artemis Fowl!" he yelled, "We're doomed. Everyone run! He's here to kidnap someone else! Run for you l-i-i-f-f-e-"

This unfortunate gnome had been silenced in mid-rave by Holly. She stood with her hand clenched into a fist. Apparently, she had punched the gnome in the nose.

"Listen to me, People of the Haven!" called out Holly loudly, "Do not panic! This mud boy is here on my permission to help us foil Foaly's virus! He is not here to kidnap anyone and he is not to be harmed! Any questions?"

Most of the fairies had questions and snide comments to make to Holly, but Butler's sheer size, not to mention his reputation for taking out an entire squad of LEP Retrieval officers, silenced any questions forming in anyone's head, anyone except Commander Sool.

"Holly Short! LEP arrest this elf for breaking Fairy Code 0.1 HUMAN! Short, you should know better than to bring a human down to the Haven without direct LEP permission! Especially these humans! You're a traitor to us all! I'll have you throw into Howler's Peak for this treason of your people!" A wiser fairy than Sool may have held his tongue, but this was Sool.

LEP officers began to circle around Holly. When Butler and Artemis stepped in front of her to protect her, they hesitated, looking back at their commanding officer. Then, after the command came from Sool, they shielded and began their assault on the would-be helpless mud men.

Butler and Artemis, however, just reached into their jacket pockets and brought out a pair of glasses each. Of course, these weren't ordinary glasses. Each lens was a filter to allow them to see the shielded fairies.

Sool wasn't the brightest fairy and goaded, "Oh mud men, when will you learn? You cannot see the fairies! Even with you're reading glasses!"

The mud men in question didn't respond to this ridiculous statement. They formed a triangle with Holly, backs facing each other so the team could face enemies on all sides. Mulch seemed not to have been noticed and took a seat on the steps. "If only I had popcorn," he thought.

Artemis and Butler could see their opponents closing in on them, 20 in all. The fairies drew their electric batons and had every intention to zapped all three into unconsciousness with them if only they worked. But with Foaly's virus, they were just hefty baseball bats, so they decided to use them as such. About 12 bold ones approached Butler, six attempted to capture Holly, and only two came after Artemis (after all, he was more of a mud whelp than a mud mountain.)

In the end, there lay 11 unconscious fairies in a pile next to Butler, one running and screaming for his mommy, six strung out on the ground around Holly, and, surprisingly, two fairies at Artemis' feet as well. Holly told Artemis, "Wow, Arty's not just useless luggage in a fight anymore. There may be hope for you yet, mud boy."

Artemis gave his vampiric smile, "What can I say?" he asked, stopping to kick away the fairies' dropped batons, "I was tired of just being luggage."

The boy turned to Sool and said, in his most intelligent and evil sounding voice, "Sool, are you through playing your little games? You cannot defeat us. So quit your pathetic schemes and let us help you stop this virus. Foaly's my friend and I intend to help him, whether or not you give us permission. I suggest just staying out of our way."

Sool's face was one of pure anger and hate. His malice could be felt, radiating from his being like heat from the sun. Mulch's hair cringed from such an outpouring of such evil emotions. "This isn't going to turn out well," he thought.

But Mulch's hair must've been predicting the far future, because Dwarf hair is never wrong, for Sool had to give in this time. He had no more men at his disposal, none willing to fight these three, that is. He gave more parting shot as he stepped aside, "This time, mud boy. Next time, I won't even bother threatening or mind-wiping. No! It'll be straight to Howler's peak with the lot of yah!"

The commander stormed off to make a report of this incident to the council. Oh how he would love to do just what he threatened! He must ask the council right away! So off he went, smiling to himself. He would yet have the last laugh!

Artemis wasted no time with threats. He scudded over to the gathered techies, all looking extremely scared, as if Artemis would just bite them at any second. Artemis, however, ignored this and demanded information out of them.

"What type of glass is this?" he asked one very nerdish looking pixie with bad teeth.

"Eh...um...it's c-c-completly bullet, laser, and ..and..and everything proof! Not that it matters. Any weapon that might have broken it has been de-deactivated by the virus." the pixie stuttered.

"Have they?" asked Artemis, his brain cells sparking into their famed intelligence. He needed something to get through the window. It was the weakest point. Lasers won't work, bullets won't work, and force itself is useless...unless...

"When?" he demanded.

"Excuse me?" asked the nerdy pixie.

"When did Foaly have this glass replaced last?" asked Artemis, upset that the pixie needed a question so simple to be spelled out.

The pixie pulled out a micro computer similar to a palm pilot, but much more advance. He did a quick search of LEP control station records. A few seconds later, the pixie said, "10 years ago. The next upgrade is scheduled for next week."

"Perfect!" exclaimed Artemis with a vampiric smile and he ran back over to Holly leaving a very confused pixie in his wake.

"Holly, I think you mentioned earlier today that your new gun uses sound, correct?"

"Yes, Artemis, but how does that help us. All weapons have been rendered useless and that glass is Foaly's invention."

"Yes, it is," Artemis revealed, "but so is that gun if I'm not mistaken. Did Foaly give it to you?"

"Yes, right before I came to visit you. But how did you know?"

"Ah, the pieces of this puzzle are beginning to come together. And how did I know Foaly gave you the gun? Well, that was just logic. I doubt your private eye salary could have afforded such a new and powerful weapon. Holly, use you Dipper to break the glass. Just shuffle through all it's settings. One of them will do it. I'm sure of it! Now everyone else, stand back please!" Artemis could be annoying at the most stressful situations, but nevertheless, it seemed like a good idea.

Holly took out her Dipper and set it to the lowest setting. Nothing. She quickly turned through the settings, one-by-one. This took a while as there were 257 different settings. The 128th one did the trick. It shattered the glass into and couple hundred billion pieces. Holly couldn't believe it worked. How did the mud boy know what to do? Why did her weapon work and everyone else's not?" She pushed this aside along with a group of the techies scratching their heads. They were all wondering how Artemis knew so much, too much they agreed. Holly and Artemis entered the control station through the broken window. Butler kept the crowd back so that Artemis could think. holly was getting ready to jump to the floor when Artemis grabbed her hand.

"Hello!" exclaimed holly as she faced the boy for an explanation. He was staring at the floor intently. "Artemis?"

This seemed to waken the boy from a trance. He took a water bottle from the bag he was carrying releasing Holly's hand as he did so.

"Wait!" commanded Artemis, "and watch."

He took the top off the bottle and threw in on the floor. The water spilled out, but was imediatly evaporated by a strong electrical current that swarmed through the floor.

Holly gave a slight chuckle, "That was close. Thanks Artemis."

Artemis nodded and was once again looking around, searching for more booby traps no doubt. He slid along the top of the work bench under the window. Ah, there it was. The switch to the floors was being compressed by an automatic clamp that was activated whenever Foaly was not in the control room.

Of course, Holly nor the surrounding fairies knew this. They just saw another trick to keep out intuders and robbers. Artemis, however, suspected something more, but he kept his mouth shut. No need to get a centaur friend in trouble now.

He undid the clasp and jump to the floor; perfectly safe now. He saw the control panel and went over to it. He studied for an entire 10 minutes, everyone waiting on baited breathe. Finally, he pushed one button. It brought up the countdown screen to how much time all the electronics under the surface had until the virus took complete control and bang! There goes all the fairies.

Artemis further manipulated the controls. Finally, he found the program entitled Armageddon Virus. That would be it Artemis surmised.

He try to open and deactivate it, but two things happened at once. A password box popped up on the monitor of the control panel while a paper floated down from the ceiling. Artemis caught the paper and saw that a mechanical flap on the ceiling had been released. Most interesting. He read the paper, memorized it, and handed it to Holly.

She read it aloud,

_to find one lost_

_you must come seek_

_below the surface, water, and rock._

_sixteen hours had you to find_

_A way to enter this confine._

_Together now you must bind._

_Lose but one_

_And you will fail_

_Now come together mud and fairy_

_To the place where your friend fled_

_Is your next clue to wait_

_So fly fools fly, you dipper of fools_

_and regain one you sorely miss._

_The options you'll have are described _

_on a street of sums of levels_

_and a house of breaking glass._

_all this shall continue till the end of 48, _

_and now at the end of sixteen,_

_play it backwards to unwind._

"Are you serious? Who would leave such a riddle as this? If ever we unravel this, it will be too late." said holly with frustration. She ran her fingers through her curly hair trying to get her head around the riddle.

She thought Artemis would tell her exactly what it meant, but she was left in silence. Artemis had his eyes closed. he seemed to be thinking.

"Artemis?" she whispered trying not to break his train of thought.

The boy's eyes snapped open making the fairy start. Artemis didn't respond, but he began pushing fairy keys on the control panel.

Holly was amazed. This boy seemed never to fail to do that at least. Artemis pushed in seven keys. In English it would be "neetxis." Funny thought Holly, that's not even a word. The boy hit submit and the computer excepted the password.

The countdown from 16 hours (which had reached one hour by now) stopped to be replaced by a countdown from 48 hours.

"Artemis, I don't understand. 'Neetxis?' Why is there another countdown? Can't you stop it?" asked Holly with a confused tone.

"No, I'm afraid not. Not even I can hoodwink Foaly's system. The only thing I did was follow part of the riddle. We're going to have to follow the entire riddle to get Foaly back so he can stop it."

"The riddle? What part of the riddle told you that 'neetxis' would be the password." asked Butler from out the window. He had been listening in.

"Well the last two lines, 'and now at the end of sixteen, play it backwards to unwind.' 'end of sixteen' would describe how many hours the virus' countdown contained. And if we play sixteen backwards to unwindthen 'neetxis,' or sixteen spelled backwards, must be to relieve of us the 16 hour deadline, or 'unwind.'"Artemis explained with a triumphant gleam in his eye.

Realization played on Holly's face as she thought about what Artemis had said.

"So where do we find the next clue?" said Mulch's voice.

Holly and Artemis looked around. The dwarf was no where in sight. All of a sudden, Mulch's head popped into view and just as suddenly vanished with a bump. The kleptomaniac had been standing underneath the broken window the entire time. He was just so short that neither Holly nor Artemis could see him. The bump they heard was him landing after he had jumped into view.

"Atlantis!" announced Artemis dramatically, "I shall explain on the way."


	8. All Riddles Lead to Atlantis

**Chapter 7**

**All Riddles lead to Atlantis**

So a dwarf, and elf, and two humans boarded Mulch's uncle's old transport shuttle with only one question by Holly on the air, "Can this thing hold pressure under water?"

"Let's find out!" said Mulch, not encouraging much confidence in the old craft.

Everyone buckled in, except Artemis who sat on the floor with the riddle in front of him. He was formulating a plan!

Almost. Holly's voice rent the air, "Mud boy! You gonna tell us why we're going to Atlantis? That's at least 10 hours away at full speed and no mishaps."

Artemis opened one eyelid, "Very well, it seems the briefing cannot wait. I say to go to Atlantis because that's where the riddle says to. Check out the lettering. All the first letter of the words of the riddle are in lower case until lines 5 through 12 which say

_A way to enter this confine._

_Together you must bind._

_Lose but one_

_And you will fail_

_Now come together mud and fairy_

_To the place where your friend napped_

_Is your next clue to wait_

_So fly fools fly, you dipper of fools_

Now the words themselves are not the important part of this riddle. It is the capitalization of the words. These capital letters spell out 'A-T-L-A-N-T-I-S!' Therefore, it is only logical to surmise that the next clue would be in Atlantis, the city lost to the sea, or so the human legends go. But to fairies, this place is real. On the bottom of the deepest trench in the Atlantic is where we'll find Foaly. The only question that remains is 'Is Atlantis all underwater?' because none of us can breathe under water if it is."

Holly answered this question, "No, there are lots of ponds, lakes, and beaches, but it's a hot vacation spot. I went there with my father when I was young. Beautiful it was. Almost as beautiful as living above the surface. We can take the Haven underwater harbor to get to Atlantis. This time of year, it shouldn't be too crowded. But there's something I need to be brought to your attention Artemis. This whole riddle business is awfully familiar. The rock sprites who stole that painting did the exact same thing. They called it their calling card. Could it be that they've escaped and come to get payback on us all? Could we be walking into a trap?"

"A trap? Certainly. But the rock sprites being behind it? I think not. No, this time it's different. I have an idea of what is really going on, but I shall save my brilliant deductions until I'm sure of the facts. I have been wrong before, therefore I shall wait for more information. Now, Holly, you take the controls for the first five hours, Mulch the second five, and Butler and Mulch get to sleep now, and Holly, you may rest after your five hours of driving."

Holly looked taken aback. Since when has Artemis stopped himself from voicing his even earliest conclusions? There was something big going on here, Holly was sure of it. She controlled the urge to punch it out of Artemis and instead asked, "What are you going to do, mud boy?"

"I need to think."

With that Artemis stuck earplugs in his ears and closed his eyes, still sitting on the floor with the riddle in front of him as though he could read what it said through his eyelids. From time to time, he would whisper something or the other, but other than that he was completely silent.

"What a strange mud boy," said Holly taking her seat in the shuttle control chair and putting them on their way. Luckily, they were taking all main passages to the Haven harbor and the ride was fairly smooth.

After five hours, they were a good ways underwater and the shuttle was still holding pressure. Mulch came to relieve Holly of the controls so that she could get some sleep. Artemis was still sitting in his meditative stance when she went to the back. There was a cot in the back, but Mulch had just slept in it and Holly had no intention of following suit. Instead, Holly got a compressed sleeping bag from her supplies. The sleeping bag could fit in her hand when compressed, but when she pulled the cord extended from the top, it folded itself out into a full, fairy-sized sleeping bag. She spread it out on the floor behind Artemis. Butler was taking up the rest of the floor room. He was sleeping against the shuttle wall. Soon, Holly had fallen to sleep.

Her first snore woke Artemis from his quiet contemplation. He stood up, stretched, and dusted off his clothes. Looking around, he saw that everyone in the back was asleep and Mulch was in the front driving. Artemis lay down on the floor. Time for a bit of sleep. The next two days will certainly be interesting, especially if Artemis' conclusions proved accurate, and they usually did.

A little over five hours later, Mulch woke them all up and Holly took control of the shuttle again. Atlantis was finally in site and it was a good thing too. The joints and rivets in the old shuttle groaned dangerously with the increasing water pressure. Artemis went over the schematic he had made up.

"Here is our target in Atlantis."

A map was projected into the air of the city.

"House number 128 on 14th Street is where the next clue will be."

The corresponding address lit up.

"Excuse me," said Mulch raising his hand, "How do we know this?"

Artemis raised a slender eyebrow, "Did none of you understand any of the riddle?"

"Thinking is your job, mud boy," retorted Holly.

"Yes, I suppose it is," said Artemis coldly while polishing his fingernails on his jacket. "Well, sorry for asking you to use a little deduction and logic. I'll translate the riddle into plain English, or Gnommish, whichever you prefer."

"English will be fine," Holly said short-temperedly.

"Fine then. The first four lines are pretty straight forward." Artemis quoted the lines from memory, _"_

_to find one lost _

_you must come seek _

_below the surface, water, and rock._

_sixteen hours had you to find_.

Basically, to find Foaly, we must search under the surface or fairy land. It also foretells what Foaly's virus will do to the Haven. That's the 16 hours part. This reveals that Foaly's capturer knew Foaly's system and what would happen if Foaly went absent. This is a dangerous opponent if he knows this much. He even gives the password to Foaly's system. Skipping ahead to the last three lines:

_all this shall continue till the end of 48, _

_and now at the end of sixteen,_

_play it backwards to unwind._

I've already explained how I derived the password, but the abductor shows once more how dangerous he is. He predicts what will happen after the first password is accepted - an extension of 48 hours on the time deadline. Knowing this, our captor has no doubt placed himself and Foaly just within range of this deadline. He has given us a chance that shall prove ill for him," finished Artemis with a excited look in his eye. It had been a long time since he last plotted, and , frankly, he missed it.

Butler interrupted his thrill of the plot by asking another question, "but what do lines five through 16 mean?"

Artemis groaned, "Didn't I already explain most of those?

_A way to enter this confine._

_Together you must bind._

_Lose but one_

_And you will fail_

_Now come together mud and fairy_

_To the place where your friend napped_

_Is your next clue to wait_

_So fly fools fly, you dipper of fools_

The capital letters tell us to go to Atlantis. Ah, here's the part that you're probably confused about:

_So fly fools fly, you dipper of fools_

_and regain one you sorely miss._

_The options you'll have are described _

_on a street of sums of levels_

_and a house of breaking glass._

The line that makes the "S" for Atlantis also starts the final clue given. It states that once we reach a certain house in Atlantis, we'll be given a new clue. Here's the scary part of this clue: the captor knows Holly has a Dipper gun, and that Foaly's glass in the control center could be broken by it. That's a lot more than I want my enemy knowing. His knowledge of the gun is frightening as well.

_on a street of sums of levels_

_and a house of breaking glass._

There are 257 different levels of power on the Dipper. the sum of 2, 5, and 7 is 14. Therfore, we must go to 14th Street and to house number 128, for 128 was the setting on the Dipper that broke the glass. Any more questions, or can we go save Foaly?"

Artemis peered around the room, his cold blue eyes darting from face to face. Butler and Mulch were nodding, showing that they had no idea what the riddle meant, even in simple English, but they had understood the rescuing part. Holly looked as if she had followed most of the briefing, and her concern for their plot was evident in her voice.

She asked, "How can we hope to defeat someone who knows so much about us? They are obviously just dragging us behind for fun. I don't like this Artemis."

Artemis forehead creased in contemplation of his answer. He placed a comforting hand on Holly's shoulder, "We do not know who are what we are facing. We know who we are, though, and we will use our talents to improvise in danger and save our friend. We have no choice but to follow these clues if we want to save Foaly. They are the only thing we have to go on. We can't just give up on him." Artemis was already regretting saying such mushy, stupid, and corny stuff, but he endured the regret after seeing the hope it put into Holly's eyes.

The dwarf's spirit was never dampened for long and he just sighed and said, "Where is that centaur when you need him?"

That centaur was leaning back in a modified centaur chair in 128 Fourteenth Street, Atlantis. He had just woken up from a pleasant nap. He yelled for the Rock Sprites to bring him some carrots and water, to which they happily obliged. Sticking the carrots up his nose and dumping the water on his head.

Foaly snorted the carrots out of his nose. Cheeky little blighters. They're lucky they're not expendable at this moment. If anyone else had tried a stunt like that they'd be trampled under all four hooves. But you couldn't blame them. Rock pixies were mischievous by their very nature, the M-gene again.

Foaly brought up the Atlantis surveillance pictures and found Mulch's vessel making its way to the Atlantis port entrance. Foaly allowed himself a little smile. Everything was going according to plan.

Trying to bring as little attention as possible to the archaic transport shuttle, the group entered the Atlantis confine. Holly had understated its beauty. There were flowers, bushes, trees, ponds, lakes, and golden water fountains everywhere. The fake sun was turned up to mimic a perfectly sunny day on the coast of a Caribbean Island. At the far end, they could just glimpse the sparkle of waves. This was a scientific miracle in itself, for some fairy at some point had learned how to recreate an entire ocean inside a relatively small area. The entire city of Atlantis was in a bubble on the seafloor of the Atlantic. It was amazing to behold.

Holly found a shuttle harbor and took an empty parking place. The four found fresh energy and resolve by just being in this fairy vacation city.

Butler thought it odd that the city was not crowded at all. Only a few passing gnomes and elves littered the streets. He voiced his concerns to Holly.

"Crowded? Well, for one, this is not vacation season for fairies. Another reason is that we're so far away from the beach. Most fairies that come get ocean front beach houses. But the main reason is that this area is only a small out lying portion of the city."

"What do you mean?" asked Butler.

"She means," explained Artemis, "That the rest of the city is under that fake ocean."

"Correct!" agreed Holly. "All the water sprites, and well, all manner of water dwelling fairies live under those waters. All of the crowds you're looking for, Butler, are under the water."

Artemis got over his awe quickly and pulled out his C Cube. He found out exactly where they were and started off toward 128 Fourteenth Street. The others hurried after him. The strange group received stares from the Atlanteans they passed on their way. No human had ever entered Atlantis before, and today, two had just strolled in and seemed to know exactly where they were heading. What drew more stares was that a dwarf, a man, and an elf were following a mud boy who seemed to be leading them. Strange even for humans for an adult to be led by a mere child.

No one challenged their presence, however. For one, if they had made it this far into fairy domain and were still alive and unscathed, they must have some hidden talents. Another reason for the lack of restraint was, the Mud man was huge! They had heard rumors of a mountain of a man taking down a whole unit of Retrieval. No one seemed to be keen to find out if it had been this mud man.

Finally, they reached the house in question. It was an average city house made out of some unknownstone with a shell garden in front. It had two floors, and all it's windows were polarized. The front door, however, seemed to nonexistent.

Artemis sighed, "It's just what I thought. Our friend Foaly is just having his own bit of fun."

This caused two reactions.

Holly starting scolding Artemis once more about how Foaly could not be behind this. But her agruments were cut short by the second reaction.

The second reaction had been Foaly saying, "Smart Mud Whelp!" and then pushing a button to open a hidden door with a pneumatic hiss.


	9. The BelowGround Situation

A/N: You may have noticed that I have a weird updating schedule. Basically, it's whenever I have time, but it's always quicker if there are new reviews! ;) R&R and thanks for reading. Tell me what you think, because I've been told (by my English teacher's grades) that I'm not a very good writer. Constructive criticism wanted.

**Chapter 8**

**The Below-Ground Situation**

Holly, Mulch, and Butler were mystified by this turn of events, however the Irish youth was not. Artemis strode in through the newly opened passage way and made a right at the end of the hallway. He had come to the living room where Rock sprites were bouncing off of furniture and walls alike. Foaly sat in the middle of the chaos with his arms open wide to greet his friends.

Mulch, Holly, and Butler soon followed the boy and came around the corner hearing Artemis say, "Honestly, Foaly. Why go through such trouble with the riddle and all. You could've just had us meet you here. Why did you play this charade?"

Foaly gave a hesitant grin at Holly who looked likely to punch the centaur into the next dimension. His reply was filled with the tension of nervousness, "How else could I really tell who my friends were."

Holly didn't seem so pleased to see the centaur alive and well as one might think she would.

"I defended you," she yelled, "I said you couldn't be behind all this! Explain right now! And shut these guys up!"

She, of course, was implying the Rock Sprites dancing around the room and making a whole lot of extra clatter than there ever had need for.

The centaur hit a button on a control panel on his watch. The rock sprites were instantly knocked out. They lay about the floor, many snoring. Foaly had apparently hit the button that exploded their Seeker Sleeper capsules that marked every captured convict.

"It's time for me to explain to you exactly what's been going on underground: All is not well. The LEP has become too strong! Sool has the fairy people at his feet. If they try to resist, he will have them killed with his own special squad of mercenary fairies, almost all of whom have lost their magic and so have no need to play by the book. Without the codes the book sets, they are able to do just about anything. He even has Goblins working for him. Right now, they are Sool's personal assassins. When he establishes himself as King, which let me inform you that he plans to, he shall use this squad to rage a war on the mud men. He plans to have his forces bio-bomb every major city in the world and kill all those left behind in hand-to-hand combat! This will be the end to humanity!"

Artemis looked pale. Whatever he had guessed Foaly's actions had been about, this certainly was not it.

"But Foaly," asked Artemis, "won't the People resist such a destructive force as this? From my experiences, the People are a peace-loving race."

"Most of the public are unaware of anything that happens in the LEP. There are a few who could raise public awareness, but that's why Sool has a personal assassin squad. I know personally that anyone who opposes Sool finds his fury. His first targets were Council member Vinyaya and myself. That's why I'm here. I had been predicting that Sool would pull something like this so I got my spy in the LEP, Major Trouble Kelp, to discover his exact plans. When Kelp discovered Sool's hit list, I gave Holly the only gun that could get into my control booth and keep power when the virus took effect. I then sent her off to you, Artemis, so that you all would be together when news of my horsenapping, spread to the press by Kelp, reached you. I left a little riddle for you that I knew only Artemis could solve. I also talked these rock sprites into helping me out. After trouble passes, I told them I would set them free to cause mayhem. When the assassin team came, I had everything ready and so activated that virus to disable the assassins' guns. I tried to make sure that you four would be the only ones to be able to find me. That's why I had to go through this 'charade.'"

Holly was stunned, "They tried to assassinate Council Member Vinyaya? Did she survive? Is she okay?"

"Of course I am dear. Foaly sent his little rock sprites to whisk me off as soon as the assasins came." This, of course, was Vinyaya, standing in the doorway from what looked like a side bedroom. She had been there the whole time, but they had been focusing on Foaly and had not noticed.

"Oh Vinyaya!" said Holly rushing over to meet the wise old elf, "I'm so glad to see you're okay! You're the only family I have left!"

"I'm fine my grandchild. No need to go get all emotional over it," said Vinyaya.

Foaly laughed at this. "Emotional?" he said sarcastically, "All elves are emotional creatures by nature." He quit his teasing at Holly's death stare.

"Grandchild?" asked Artemis with interest, "This is something new to my ears. Mother's side I assume. No matter. The plot is still the same. Sool is trying to accomplish a goal that many human tyrants have tried throughout the millenia. However, we at least know the outcome. The tyrants have never succeeded as long as someone has stood against them. We still have a chance. But we need a plan, and I believe it shall be quite an exemplary one if myself and Foaly are allowed to work on it together. Now Foaly, let's talk about what we can do to stop Sool."

Butler and Mulch just took a seat, Butler saying, "Time for the old horsey and the genius boy to earn their keep. I suggest we just get some sleep until they're ready to tell us their plan."

Soon, Butler and Mulch were snoring. Vinyaya and Holly were talking quietly in a corner.

"But what about the 48 hour deadline? Won't everything explode in about 30 hours?"

"Hush child. Put your mind to rest. Nothing will happen, I can assure you of that. Foaly just put a timer on his virus to make the LEP sweat a little and to make sure you four got here with all speed. Nothing will happen when it hits zero. The virus was just to knock out their guns so that Sool will have a harder time hurting anyone. Now, for a little girl-to-girl talk. Did you miss him?"

"Who grandma?"

"The little mud boy, of course. Foaly told me he had barely said the words 'Artemis' and 'visit' before you had rushed off to the surface to visit him. That's going through an awful lot of trouble just to take a 'vacation.' That's why I'm asking 'Did you miss him?'"

"I don't know grandma. The boy has a way of making you do stuff you normally wouldn't do, like jump into freezing water to save a man you don't know or cut off some guy's thumb. I guess I just...needed him. That's all."

Vinyaya sat musing for a while. It was obvious that she wanted to say something.

"Say it, grandma. Whatever you're thinking about, just say it," begged Holly when it was past her ability to resist such a curious thing.

"I'm just thinking that a human-fairy relationship has never been an option before. There has never been a human like Artemis Fowl, the infamous Fowl who defeated the LEP and successfully separated a fairy from their gold and even kept his memories of it. There has never before been so much as a friendship between the two species. However, this might be what we need. A creature who's willing to embrace the idea of living together, peacefully. So I say, go for it."

Holly looked away from her grandmother, "I don't know what you are talking about old woman. He's just a boy, and we are nothing alike. There's nothing between us." But her eyes reflected them dancing at Fowl Manor and how happy she had been and then their almost-kiss. Perhaps there was more truth in what her grandma had said than she would admit.

Vinyaya sensed this and snuggled down in a bed to sleep saying, "Maybe, but only your heart can tell. By a fairy's age compared to human age, you're not that much older than the boy. You're still a young fairy at 80, you'll come to see that age plays very little a part after a certain time."

With that, the old elf fell asleep, but Holly was kept up wondering, "Could it be possible? But even if I think it is, does the mud boy share my emotions. It would be foolish to fall in love with a creature that cannot love. But I'm NOT in love! I can't be in love with a mud boy."

In the side room, the two greatest minds on the planet were deep in thought, bouncing ideas off each other and asking different facts and figures in turns.

"How long will your virus last?"

"As long as we need it. There's not a fairy in the LEP that can match my intellect."

"How about the bio-bombs? Are they affected by the virus?"

"No, they have their own electronic systems that contain the solinium radiation. I couldn't deactivate them without their casings melting and solinium flares destroying all of the fairy population."

"Is there a way to deactivate the trigger system?"

"Well, manually you can disconnect it, but that's not really an option as there will be thousands of them. There's just not enough time."

"About how much time do we have?"

"Maybe another day. Two at max. The Bio-bomb transport shuttle is supposed to leave in about 18 hours, coming out of the well-used Tara Port. From there, our hope vanishes as the bio-bombs separate to go to their intended targets."

"Okay, then, the Tara port is our last chance. By my calculations, we can intercept the shuttle in time there. Now, I need to run through some possible plans in my head." And with that Artemis once again closed his eyes a rub his temples, willing the best thoughts possible to pop into his brain.

Half an hour later, they were all sitting in Foaly's personal craft, which gave new meanings to comfort and advanced technology. Artemis had made a new diagram for the crew to better understand the plan he and Foaly had woven together.

"The transport shuttle will leave the underground from the Tara Port," lectured Artemis staring around at the varying degrees of confusion. "We cannot stop each individual bio-bomb, therefore we are left with two options. The first one would be for Foaly to forcibly activate all the bio-bombs at once before they reach their targets in the shuttle port. However, I estimate that a fourth of both the human and fairy populations would be wiped out by the resultant reaction. The only other option we have is to take over the transport shuttle and keep it from reaching its destination. After that, we have to penetrate the LEP headquarters and take out Ark Sool. The only problem I foresee is that Sool will have too many supporters at his side. An army more like. We need to find a way to discredit him and cause the fairy people to revolt against him."

Holly raised her hand like a school fairy and Artemis, very much like a teacher would, asked, "Yes, Holly? Do you have a question?"

Holly scowled at being treated like a child by a child but merely said, "Won't Sool have a back-up plan? If we take over the transport shuttle of Bio-bombs, won't he just send another?"

"I can answer this one," Foaly interjected, "The fairy people have a limited supply of bio-bombs. There are only enough for attack, therefore, there is no bio-bomb back-up shipment. I've already taken care of Sool's actual back-up plan-the DNA cannons, set to human of course. But my virus has already rendered those completely useless." Foaly had a look of smugness that wore off quickly into anger when no one jumped to compliment his brilliance.

Vinyaya noticed her old friend's anger and quickly said, "I vote we give Foaly a whole bushel of carrots for his achievements! But I still have a question that needs answering. Artemis, you make taking control of the transport shuttle sound so easy. How are we going to penetrate the ships shields and sensors?"

Artemis gave his most annoying and most vampiric smile, "_We_ are not going to do anything. The rock sprites back there in their cages, still sleeping from the Seeker-Sleeper, are going to do that work. We need to see the situation on hand before I can come up with the rest of the plan. I suggest, however, that we all buckle up. Holly, your goal right now is to finally beat some of those time records in a shuttle you've been dying to break."

"Now, you're speaking my language, Arty!" teased Holly while jumping in the pilot's chair and starting up the engines.

"Only my mother calls me Arty." said Artemis with a frown.

"And Juliet." added Butler.

"Yes, Butler, but I don't argue with Butlers as a general rule. Every time I've seen someone argue with a Butler, that person has ended up dead."

Butler did not argue with this and council member Vinyaya, who had been following the conversation with a smile believing it to be a joke, suddenly stopped smiling and looked scared. She had just realized that they were not joking, not in the least.

Holly took Artemis' words to heart and broke quite a few records. The trip was rather smooth because Foaly had installed the best gyroscopes in his personal craft. They traveled underwater to the Tara fairy harbor.

Inside the harbor, Holly stopped the shuttle for the e rest of the plans. Artemis once again briefed the crew.

"Our crew will separate at terminal E4. That is the terminal in the middle of our two goals. The rock sprites and a passenger we still need to pick up will go to intercept the bio-bomb transport. The second team, which will consist of Butler, Mulch, Holly, and myself will proceed to our target at the LEP Headquarters. Foaly will stay onboard so he can be connected to all of us and relay valuable information and Vinyaya will remain here as well. Everyone, make sure you have your communicators and that they are turned on. Any questions?"

"Who are we picking up?" inquired Holly.

"My spy, Major Trouble Kelp" said Foaly, "He shall be of great assistance to us for getting through the E4 terminal without being noticed."

Mulch was in the back pilfering Foaly's fridge, "I have a question," he shouted in their general direction, "Do all the rock sprites have to go with Kelp? They could really save me from risking my neck."

Artemis gave him a cold stare, "Be that as it may, ALL of the rock sprites are needed in order to get Kelp through the rock molecules. But I suppose it is up to you, Mulch. You can either storm Headquarters with us or you can find a way to chew through 10 miles of solid granite and then capture an entire LEP crew single-handedly. Whichever you prefer, but chose quickly."

"Never mind," said Mulch and turned back to raid the fridge.

"Right then. We shall continue with Foaly's and my plan. This 'overthrow' as some will call it must be perfectly planned in order to catch the LEP with their defenses down. Now, let's be on our way, time is running short. Council member Vinyaya, I believe our good friend Foaly has a plan that involves you. I will let him explain it when the time is right, but I shall forewarn you to make sure you have your speech ready that you were supposed to give yesterday. Good luck everyone."

Foaly had to put in a snide comment, "And I hope nobody breaks a leg, except for Butler, but it better be somebody else's." (A/NYeah, that confused Butler too. Think about it for a half minute more in a literal sense instead of a figurative, then laugh.)

Two hours before the bio-bomb shipment was to reach the Tara Terminal, a short gnome with a uni-brow and hair style frighteningly similar to that of a mullet(_hairstyle_, I emphasize again, not the fish) entered Commander Sool's office bearing a black protected case. Sool swiveled around in his chair to better see this new arrival.

"Commander Sool," said the gnome in an unfitting squeaky voice, "I have what you ordered sir: a human gun with bullets." He obviously didn't know much about human technology.

"Good job Major Kurt Motasch. What type of gun is this?" asked Sool of his loyal officer.

"I have no clue, sir." See? Clueless henchman.

"Interesting," absentmindedly mused Sool, "Well, as long as it shoots. I won't go unprotected waiting for Foaly to come a di-thrown me. You may leave Major."

Major Motasch backed out of the office as the Commander loaded the gun and shot a round at the wall. _It works all right, _thought Sool seeing the softball sized hole he had put in the wall. Sool then stuck the gun on the underside of his desk. It would be perfectly accessible in an emergency situation.


	10. Walking in Through the Front Door

**Chapter 9**

**Walking in Through the Front Door**

Artemis and the group reached the E36 terminal. This terminal was a safety stop for the LEP. There was no way into Haven except by passing through a special inspection by the LEP Inspection Squad. Once they had deemed you legal and hazard-less, it was a straight shot to Haven and to LEP headquarters. To the direct right, there was the Tara Terminal where the bio-bombs were currently en route to the exit and from there all over the world and to certain doom for humanity, but did I mention the granite in between the two places? There was really only about 2 miles of granite separating the two places-Artemis had used a little exaggeration, what he called hyperbole, just to be sure that Mulch would follow his plan.

They were met at the checking booth by Trouble and Grub Kelp. Grub had been assigned to the booth and now was just doing his brother a favor, well Grub never does favors, but Trouble had said that if Grub did not stop his whining and help his friends, Trouble would tell mommy that Grub had forgotten Trouble's birthday. Not a very imposing threat to anyone else, but to the Kelp family, forgetting a birthday was a serious offense. Whatever the story, Grub was reluctantly assisting in this overthrow.

Grub quickly checked off their vehicle as passing the security check, all the while grumbling that Sool would have his job for this.

"Suck it up Grub," advised his brother, "Don't look so down. It's drawing attention to us. Just remember that now, I have nothing to use against you and you can consider your lapse in memory over my birthday 100 percent forgiven." With that, Trouble climbed on board Foaly's ship.

When they were just out of sight of the terminal, Holly pulled the shuttle into a natural groove in the tunnel that nearly completely hid them from view. The Rock Sprites had finally woken up and wouldn't let the crew forget it. They were bouncing off their cages and screeching and hooting. One of the fifteen tried to bite Butler, so there were now fourteen rock sprites all desperately trying to not breath, not move, and definitely try to stay away from the giant.

Foaly bribed them, "Okay, so you all want your freedom and to get away from this big guy?" 14 heads nodded in unison. "Good. Then I suggest you do exactly as I tell you. Extend you rock sliding abilities to Major Kelp here and pull him along with you. You are to reach the Tara terminal by 7:30 p.m., which is precisely 25 minutes from now. Go swiftly and listen to everything the major says. I shall know if you don't! If you do decide to be treacherous, then be forewarned that you're Seeker-sleepers will be used to put you in a permanent sleep. Now go with all speed."

So the rock sprites sunk into the granite pulling a scared looking Trouble with them.

Holly Short started up the engines again a moved the shuttle back into the main part of the tunnel. They had only a little farther to go before Holly was once again parking the shuttle, this time just out of sight of the LEP building.

The group, minus Foaly and Vinyaya, took all back alleyways up to LEP central. Sool's office would be in the middle, the most secure spot. Holly led the way as this was her old workplace. Mulch also had a relatively good layout of the area in his head for his many forced visits to this building..

"All right Foaly," Artemis whispered into his communicator, "Do you have us covered on the cameras?"

"Nope, didn't think I'd bother with that today," came the centaur's sarcastic reply.

"Foaly!" said Holly dangerously, "Now is not the time for playing!"

"Okay, my dear Holly. Don't get you're acorns in a bunch! You're all clear on cameras. I've simply deleted you all from the cameras. No sweat."

The group looked around at each other, nodding their heads as they each silently agreed that if one of them went down, they would be glad to go down beside their friends. Holly then pulled out her Dipper, Butler pulled out his Sig Sauer, Artemis checked the batteries on a gun Foaly had just given him, and Mulch unbuttoned his butt-flap. The tension was nearly palpable.

Holly whispered into her helmet mike, knowing that the rest of the group would be able to hear her through their ear pieces, "What's the plan, Centaur?"

Foaly answered, "Just walk in through the front door."

Holly barked back, "This is no time for your sarcasm Foaly! Seriously, what is the next step?"

"I told you, just walk in the front door. Come on Holly. It's the middle of the night, the few guards on night watch have no weapons, and I'm deleting you off all camera footage. I think it is relatively safe enough to just walk right in the building. After you easily over power the front guards, or go by Artemis' plan and just sneak around them, whichever way you prefer, proceed to Sool's office and save the human race. Make sure you get Sool to monologue a bit about his whole revenge scheme and then...well...bang, bang, no threat."

Holly wasn't sure about that, "Foaly! You want us to murder the Commander of the LEP. Can't we just bring him in or something?"

"Sure you can, but I just HATE that gnome! But go ahead, have it you're way and 'bring him in.' That was Artemis' plan anyway." There was no joke in Foaly's voice when he said this, rather disappointment that Holly was choosing to follow Artemis' plan rather than his own "bang, bang, no threat" one.

Holly, meanwhile, shifted her gaze to Artemis' eyes and asked, "Is it really this simple?" She wanted to see his expression to make sure the boy didn't know something that he was neglecting to tell everyone, like cutting off a man's thumb and reattaching it...or something else of the sort.

Artemis considered the question for a moment, then answered, "Yes, it really is that simple. In theory."

"Oh great! In theory! That just means someone going to get hurt through some unexpected mishap." thought Holly, but said nothing aloud.

The group hurried across the open plaza in front of the LEP building. Artemis noticed that the fairies dulled the fake sun and projected holographic stars on the ceiling to signal the change in the time of day. This 'night' phase meant that there were no fairies in the streets to hinder their progress up Police Plaza. They were all at home in their snug little fairy beds.

Unseen by the cameras, the protagonists easy made their way into the unlocked doors of the building. After all, what good was an emergency building if a fairy couldn't get into it in the case of an emergency? It wasn't as though prisoners were kept in the LEP building. They were kept a few hundred yards away in a special and very secure building.

And now back to the people saving the human race who had just got inside the building without a noise. Holly took the lead and motioned for the rest to follow her every few new yards of the hallway. She held her gun at the ready, just in case. There was hardly any need for such precaution as the building was nearly deserted, except for the security booth. Holly approached it like a cat, making herself as low to the ground as possible. She peered into the booth at a corner and saw that it was none other than Chix Verbil on watch as the night shift. The incompetent police officer was nodding in his chair and almost asleep. Holly motioned for the rest of the group to keep low and follow her.

After passing the booth, they had very few problems getting down the hallways to Sool's office. For 'better' security, the LEP had put locked and coded doors every 10 yards in case of a security breach at the main booth. These precautions proved just as obsolete as the booth had, as Artemis seemed to possess an unnatural ability to bypass the electrical system. He could open each door in 10 seconds flat.

The group finally arrived outside Sool's office door. The new commander had had the security updated even more since Foaly's latest records stated. Obviously, Sool wanted to make sure the centaur stayed out.

This was a slight smudge on the otherwise perfect plan concocted by Foaly and Artemis. Holly used her helmet sensors to try to find a way in, but to no avail. Sool's security improvements included a electric pulse that made the sensor's useless...electronic sensors, that is.

Mulch Diggums, however, was anything but electronic. He put his ear to the wall, tapped his finger tips experimentally in different spots, sniffed the wall, and finally licked the wall to taste it. "Mulch was stick licking his lips as he said, "That's some good tasting rock. Diamond coated cinderblock. Probably lead plating behind it too, then a layer of brick, and finally some drywall. It's like that all around the room. I could tell by the vibrations. This room must've cost a fortune to make. Diamond coating is not a cheap process, but it serves a great purpose. My rock polish can't get through the entire wall, and there is nothing more subtle than blowing it up. Sorry, Arty, I can't really help you on this one. It's just that diamond coating that's causing the problems. One layer of it's like five foot thick wall of granite, and the cinderblocks are coated on two sides!"

Artemis, however, was not discouraged. Rather, his brain was sparking with ideas. "Just 10 feet of solid granite right? Well, then there is no need to blow it up. If I remember correctly, Holly's gun is just perfect for this line of work."

Holly had forgotten about her Dipper. Maybe that's why she was not considered a genius and Artemis was. She would never let him know that, of course, and took out her gun, flipping it to its maximum setting.

She aimed at a spot on the wall and then checked in with Foaly, "Centaur? Are we in sync with Trouble and the rock sprites?"

"Perfectly! Fire in the hole!" Foaly could be heard crunching on some celebration carrots.

Holly looked around to the rest of her team then said, "Well, here goes nothing."

A/N: That chapter was probably the shortest in this story so far. Sorry 'bout that. Only a few more chapters left, so review and tell me what you think.


	11. Unfortunate Character Death

**Chapter 10**

**Unfortunate Character Death**

A/N: Kind of blunt title name, but which character will die?

Nothing was not quite the right word for what happened. What did happen was the condensed sound waves produced by the dipper blew apart the cinderblocks, diamond coating and all, shot past the lead, melting it like ice, crashed through the bricks, and finally crumbled the drywall into dust which filled the air. Holly, Butler, Mulch, and Artemis walked through the newly opened entrance into Sool's office.

It was quite picturesque: the protagonists standing in the frame of a gigantic hole, the dust settling around them, and all of the them holding their guns ready with a burning fire in their eyes as they stared at Commander Ark Sool.

However, Sool did not see this as a picturesque scene. Whatever he had been thinking a minute before, it was certainly not that there was any danger that an elf, a dwarf, and two mud men would be completely destroying his very expensive defenses. He looked up from the screen he was monitoring his human genocide from and the cigar he had been smoking dropped from his mouth and into his lap, promptly burning a hole in his LEP suit. The pain brought him back to his senses and he shouted, "Short, this IS treason. You will not escape with your life from this one. Trust me on that point!"

Holly took no heed of the threat and definitely didn't trust Sool on any point he made. She just stared defiantly at him with hate in her eyes. It was now Artemis' turn to proceed with his plan. He had to get Sool to tell what he was doing from his own mouth. But Artemis wasn't worried. He knew more psychology than anyone else alive, and he was willing to bet his life on it.

Artemis made sure he stared directly at Sool so that his iris cam could film the whole incident. All he had to do was get Sool to monologue, which should be simple because all unintelligent bad guys like to hear themselves talk. It was nearly a scientific fact.

"Commander Ark Sool," came Artemis' mocking voice. The Irish youth could see the gnome tingeing red with anger at his insolent tone. he continued, "Just how exactly were you planning to get away with the complete destruction of a species?" Okay, a bit cliché, but it was enough to lead Sool on the right track to monologue.

The commander didn't really think the mud boy deserved any explanation of his actions, but the commander needed time. He had to get to the stuck under the desk without them noticing, so he decided to go ahead and answer the whelp's questions to distract them, while slowly sliding his hand toward the gun.

Sool began, "To be honest, it didn't matter. Once the humans were gone forever, the People won't care how. I will be a hero to future generations as I rule over them and take them back to the surface. We will build ourselves a new empire, a fairy empire. They shall worship me for giving them back the above-ground. Call it spite, call it revenge, but we, the fairies, deserve this chance to obliterate the mud men. Too long have we just lived in the shadows, backing away from where ever humans decided to settle. We shall once more become the dominant specie on this planet." Sool could feel the cold metal of the gun now. He just needed a little more time, a bit more of a distraction, and he would be able to take over the situation. He continued talking, searching for his chance to pry the gun loose with notice, "You know what the best part of my plan is, mud boy?"

Artemis scowled at the tiny excuse for a being, answering, "I'll humor you then. No, Sool, what is the best part of your plan?"

The commander smiled, "While you're here distracted by me, you're allowing the bio-bomb shipment to arrive at its destination. Soon, too soon for you to prevent, bio-bombs will be exploded in every major world city, killing half the human population. The other half will have to wait a bit longer for deaths. My scientists have estimated that is will take a further six months to track down and kill every last human, but that is like a second in time compared to how long the human race has been plaguing this world with their filth. The best part of my plan is that there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

Holly was sure that, if given the chance, Sool would've broke out into evil laugh, so she didn't give him that chance, "Oh, too cliché!" she cut in, "We've already stopped you're bio-bomb shipment. Look at you're monitor. Foaly, show him what's really happening."

Sool's eyes turned to his screen just in time to see the old picture flicker out and a new series of events not so favorable unfolding. Major Trouble Kelp was in the pilot chair of the shuttle while Sool's crew that should've been manning the vessel was all unconscious and being tied to the ceiling of the ship by a gang of rock sprites. As he watched, an unfortunate crewman was hoisted by the entire gang of the sprites through the metal side of the ship and was then tied upside down to the communication's antennae.

Sool's anger was boiling his blood, making him bolder. He had finally managed to pry the gun loose from the under side of the desk. Had he known what a safety switch was, he would've needed to turn it off. However, being foreign technology, he hadn't even bothered to click it on. He scanned the intruders, searching for his first target. Holly Short. Of them all, Root's favorite was the intruder he hated most. He gripped the gun and whipped it out from under the desk.

Artemis was watching the commander's eyes as the rest of the group relaxed, believing Sool to be defeated. Sool's eyes widened as he watched the screen, but then they went out of focus, as if he was trying to feel something he could not see. Suddenly, his eyes scanned the group resting on Holly. Artemis knew what was coming. He almost sensed it. But that didn't mean there was any time to warn anybody. Almost as if it were an instinct, the boy threw himself in front of Holly just as Sool pulled out an ordinary human gun. Artemis, all logical thought lost to bare animal instinct, grunted as the bullet hit him in the chest, changing the direction of his momentum and forcing him to fall into Holly. Butler had already fired a retaliatory shot and the bullet found its mark in the ex-commander's forehead. Not even magic could heal brain damage by a Sig Sauer. Sool fell from his chair and hit the floor.

Artemis, however, was still breathing. Maybe losing substantial amounts of blood, but sill alive nonetheless. He could feel Holly's form supporting him from behind and his last conscience thought was, "At least I'll die in Holly's arms."

A/N: Another short chapter…just builds the suspense!


	12. Not Another Character Death

**Chapter 11**

**Not Another Character Death**

But fate had other things in store for Artemis Fowl the Second. He awoke in a dark room feeling much better than somebody who had just been shot had the right to feel. That left him with to possible answers: One; he was dead and this was his afterlife; or two; he was alive and had just been healed by magic. He picked to believe the latter of these two answers because the air smelled stale, like fairy air.

He had been staring at the ceiling and so he turned his head to look around the room. Beside him, there was a small figure sleeping in a chair beside the bed he was laying in. The figure had a hand laying on the bed. Artemis reached out and took hold of the small hand. He knew it was Holly's. Some extra-sense told him. His touch woke the elf from her slumber and she looked up and met Artemis' eyes. Her eyes were red from crying and she still looked worried. She gripped his hand that was in hers.

"Holly," he said hoarsely.

"Fowl! You horrible, miserable little mud whelp," she said, averting her gaze so that he wouldn't see the new tears gathering in her eyes.

"Back to last name basis, are we Miss Short?" he teased.

"Only when you've acted like an idiot. What were you thinking? Throwing yourself in front of me? You had no clue what kind of gun Sool had, nor what type of bullet could come out of it, nor if I could heal a hole the size that that gun blew into you, nor, even if I could heal it, if I had enough magic to do it. Which, incidentally and for your knowledge, that hole was beyond my skill. You're lucky we were in Haven and have medical Warlocks on call 24 hours a day. Don't you understand, Artemis. You died! You selfishly took the bullet meant for me and it nearly ended your life forever! What were you thinking!" she demanded again, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"'Selfishly taking a bullet?' Since when has being shot been selfish?" asked the Irish youth.

"It was selfish! If you had died, you would of left me alive and feeling guilty every single day I lived after that. You took the bullet aimed for me...if you had truly died...forever..then I couldn't live with myself!" Holly was practically bawling now.

She threw her hands around Artemis, crying into his shoulder. He tried to comfort her, pulling her closer into an embrace and tenderly stroking her hair. He rested his chin on her head and waited for her to finish. Her sobs gradually decreased and eventually she looked up into his eyes, those confident blue eyes that seemed to radiate comfort. Their eyes seemed to become like magnets, drawing them closer and closer together. This magnetic power seemed to transfer to their lips, still drawing them closer. Finally, their lips connected as they shared their first kiss. It seemed it would last forever...until Butler knocked at the door. Holly and Artemis broke apart as the manservant entered the room, seemingly unaware that he had interrupted anything at all.

As soon as Butler saw that Artemis was awake, he began scolding his principal on "how am I supposed to do my job and keep you safe if you throw yourself in front of bullets not aimed at you." (A/N: Yep. Everyone has one of those speeches before they grow up. If you haven't yet, be sure to talk to your body guard pronto.) Butler was so busy with his speech, he didn't even notice that both Artemis and Holly were blushing...badly.

Eventually, when Artemis felt that Butler had ranted enough, the Irish youth cleared his throat loudly to stop the speech. "Where's Foaly?" asked the boy.

"Right here, and just a smidgen better off than you, I believe," he was eyeing the ranting Butler with concern. "Does he normally get all red like that?"

"No," Artemis answered, "He was just worried."

"I'm worried too," said Foaly in all seriousness, "I'm worried that the great genius Artemis Fowl has lost a few brain cells because he failed to notice a camera in room. Hey, you two, find a better room next time ya'll want to make out, and make sure it's not one with one of my cameras in it. I have to watch them all, you know."

Artemis heard Holly whisper, "D'Arvit!"

Artemis however, ignored the centaur's jest. After all, it had only been one kiss, not making out. Making out would've been nice, but Butler's timing hadn't allowed that. Artemis decided to barrage Foaly with questions.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"Nearly a day and a half."

"And Sool?"

"Out of luck, discredited, disowned, shamed, and did I mention dead? Butler took care of that. And before you ask, that footage your iris cam shot was shown on PPTV, council member Vinyaya gave her speech, and now, all the fairies know about Sool's cruel idea of revenge. Oh, by the way, great job on getting Sool to monologue, and catching that bullet with your chest really helped boost public opinion of you and all humans. As a treat, they have decided not to mind-wipe you. Feels just like Christmas, doesn't it?"

"Yes. But what about Trouble Kelp? Did everything turn out right?"

The centaur sadly shook his head, looking at his hooves as he answered, "About that. Everything was fine...until one of the rock sprites accidentally set off a bio-bomb...which then sent off all the rest. Unfortunately, I have to now inform you that you and Butler are the only two humans left alive."

A smile played on Artemis' lips, "Which, of course, is just you're idea of a joke."

"Foaly looked up smiling, "Of course. Just a slight jest, you know, to lighten the whole deathbed scene here. Trouble was able to safely reach haven and the bio-bombs have been put under lock and key. And, as a matter of passing, the rock sprites have been given a pardon for their crimes. I put trackers in them though, so no more disappearing artifacts will be their fault. Trouble Kelp has been promoted to commander, and, let's see...anything else...oh, and Sool's hit squads have all been arrested and the Goblin attack forces that Sool organized to do that whole human genocide thing have been rounded up. Looks like the plan was perfect."

"Except for the bullet," noted Artemis, feeling his still tender chest.

"Yes, that was unfortunate," commented the centaur, "Well, anymore questions?"

"Just one more. Where are we?"

Holly answered this one, "Haven's General Hospital. I think the magical sparks have fried some of your deductive reasoning brain cells if you haven't figured that out yet."

Foaly muttered, "I think it was more likely some of Holly's LOVE sparks fried a few brain cells."

"Excuse me, centaur?" demanded Holly, balling her fist in a very obvious way that said, "If you repeat what you just said, this fist will connect with your face...repeatedly!"

Foaly got the picture and hastily changed his face to one of innocence, "Oh, nothing, my dear Holly. I just said I think that you are right."

Artemis smiled at the pair as they headed out the door and down the hallway. You could still hear them arguing.

It was Butler's turn to be curious, "Making out?"

"Hardly. It was just one kiss." said Artemis, turning red.

"Still, do you truly want to still carry on with your plan, Artemis? It's going to hurt her a lot you know. It's going to hurt you too."

"Yes, I know Butler. But there's nothing more that can be done. It's inevitable. I've reasoned it out. My plan is logical and rational."

Butler, for once in his life, doubted his charges reasoning, "Love is never logical or rational Artemis. Just remember that."

"I will, my old friend. I will. But tomorrow, we still leave...for good."

A/N: I know, I'm cruel. They just had their first kiss and now this..Arty's new plan...I feel hate mail coming on. One chapter left!


	13. Final Goodbyes

**Chapter 12**

**Final Goodbyes**

Artemis had never been good at good-byes, especially not good-byes for the rest of eternity, or close enough to it. But Artemis had decided it was better for the People, and for Holly, that they never hear from the boy again.

He was about the leave from the Tara terminal, as the Bentley was still parked outside of it. Butler and himself turned to face their crowd of off seers: Mulch Diggums, Foaly, Vinyaya, Trouble Kelp, and Holly Short.

Artemis began, "Well, it has been nice saving the fairy world for you one last time, but..."

At this statement, Holly's glance quickly snapped onto Artemis and became a glare, "What do you mean 'one LAST time?' Surely the infamous Artemis Fowl cannot stand to keep his mud nose out of fairy business forever."

Artemis Fowl shook his head and held out his hands, palms forward, in a sort of pleading way, "It will be difficult Holly, but I believe it's for the best if we act like we've never heard of each other before."

Holly snorted, "Not heard of? What is this nonsense! You're supposed to be a genius! How do you figure we can forget all we've been through! What's gotten into you Artemis?"

"Nevertheless, and regardless of what you feel is possible, it is best for all of our futures not to get so used to this running around. There is no future for us together...ugh!"

Holly had ran over and punched him in the nose. The poor boy landed senseless on the ground with Holly yelling at him, "WE ARE NOT JUST ONE OF YOUR PLANS TO BE CARRIED OUT AND THEN TOSSED ASIDE! WE ARE REAL PEOPLE WITH REAL EMOTIONS! I DON'T WANT YOU TO LEAVE US FOREVER! YOUR PLACE IS HERE WITH US! HOW COULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT OR EVEN HAVE THAT IDEA!"

"See, Holly," explained Artemis with his usual expressionless face, " this is exactly why I have to go. We've grown to fond of each other. A relationship like this can not work. You don't need to have a brain cell to figure that out."

Holly was now in tears. She cried, "But what did all these experiences we've shared amount to? If you leave, they won't even amount to a friendship! Artemis! Don't do this to me! Can't you see that I lo..."

"That's enough Holly!" Artemis cut in. "Don't deceive yourself. There was never anything. There couldn't be. We're different species. So now I say farewell to you all. I hope there is never need for us to meet again. Thank you all for your guidance, especially you Holly."

But Holly was looking anywhere except at the boy. She didn't even respond to his thanks. She just stood there, staring at the ceiling with tears in her eyes.

The boy waited for her response that would never come. Eventually, he gave up and said, "Very well then, You have all been excellent friends."

The boy went around the room hugging all of his friends, Butler did the same. When it came time for Artemis to hug Holly, he was met with a cold shoulder. Then, even before anyone could do anything about it, Holly started the engine to her wings and took off down the chute with not as much as a backwards glance.

Artemis felt guilty. If he had known that they would not see each other for another decade and a half, he would have certainly chased after her. But hindsight is 20/20 and foresight is completely blind. The boy turned his back on the whole affair, set his fairy communicator and other fairy technology on the floor of the terminal, and then went and sat in the back of the Bentley. Butler made a short farewell, then turned and followed the boy. Never did any of them ever come back to that place...except one.

**Fifteen Years Later at the Spot the Friends Had Parted**:

Holly flew swiftly toward the surface of the Tara terminal. Only three hours of moonlight left. It would have to be a quick visit. She made sure not to disturbed the bundle in her hands.

The night was a cool brisk one of early Autumn. The night air smelled wonderful to Holly. She did not turn on her shield to prevent from shaking her package. She was going to see Artemis again.

Only a few minutes ago, she had decided to finally see the mud boy who should now be a mud man. It suddenly seemed imperative to show him this bundle in her arms. She couldn't even explain it to herself why she felt this way. She held the bundle closer and flew higher into the night sky. Five minutes more till she reached the Fowl mansion.

Finally, she glimpsed it. Lights were still on at nearly five in the morning. How strange. Holly glided lower, her descent landing her precisely in front of the door.

She stared around, almost catlike, for a few moments before ringing the ancient doorbell. Her ears pounded as the bell tolled. She quickly hid behind a nearby bush.

A mountain of a man opened the door. It was Butler. Yet, it was not the Butler she remembered. Gray streaks had claimed his hair and his face was a mass of deep wrinkles. But it was Butler, no doubt.

Holly kept the bundle close to her as she stepped into the light escaping the doorway. "Hello Butler, may I come in?" she asked tentatively.

The Eurasian man seemed delighted to see her. "Yes my forever young friend! Artemis hoped that one day you would return. Come upstairs. He's awake."

Butler led the way to the room she had occupied during her short stay as a guest in the Fowl mansion.

"Awake," she asked. "Why is he awake at this time of night, or morning rather."

"Today is a special day for him. They just brought home his very first child from the hospital. He's upstairs with the baby now. His wife is asleep right now, but Artemis wanted to stay up with baby."

Baby? Wife? Artemis' life, it seemed, had moved along just fine without her.

They rounded the corner and entered the room. Artemis was 30 years old now, yet something about his eyes made him seem as youthful as ever. They were the same cold blue, yet Holly could see laugh lines slowly etching themselves onto his pale skin. He was sitting in a chair rocking a baby to sleep.

He looked up when he heard Butler return. Butler nodded at his employer, then left the room so that Holly and Artemis could talk in private.

"Holly Short. You're as beautiful and young as you were when we first met. I have, however, grown old and continue to do so at an ever increasing speed it seems," said Artemis softly as to not wake the baby.

"I'm Holly Kelp now, Artemis. I married Trouble, literally some say," she said with a soft smile.

Artemis looked up into Holly's eyes, the same warm hazel eyes and asked, " Is that right? Why did you come Holly?"

"Because I felt I needed to come. I don't know why, but...I... I wanted to show you this."

She opened the bundle and a happy elf infant appeared smiling with bright eyes like his mother's.

Holly continued, "I felt that you should know that I've named my first child after you. Meet Artemis Trouble Kelp, Artemis Fowl, Double Trouble is what Foaly's calling him, because of the two people he is named after. And he looks a lot like his father..."

"Except for the eyes. He has your eyes," finished the grown Artemis. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. Finally, Holly broke the silence.

"I was kind of wondering if naming this child Artemis is okay with you?" asked Holly, a little hesitantly.

"It is wonderful, and not as a strange idea as you may think," answered Artemis with emotion swelling in his features.

"Not strange, how so mud man?" asked Holly staring into Artemis' blue eyes.

"Because," responded Artemis, "I am right now holding my very first child, my daughter, in my arms. I have named her after you Holly. This is Holly Angeline Fowl, Mrs. Kelp. Now, I thank you for coming, but there is precious little moonlight left. You need to get your little one home and I need some sleep. I've been up for three day straight with this little bundle of fussy joy."

Holly understood. There was nothing more to be said. She started out the door, but before she was out of earshot, she heard, "Thank you, Holly...for everything," from within the room. The terror of a mud boy had turned into descent mud man after all.

Holly flew through the night air feeling lighter on her return than on her departure. She made it to the terminal just before sunrise. She stood in the entrance watching the golden ball rise. When it was fully up, she whispered to her baby boy, "Everything is all right now. Let's go back home to your daddy."

Excerpt for Artemis Fowl's Diary (encoded on disc)

_I saw Holly Short today for the first time in 25 years. She was as young and beautiful as ever. She did not speak to me, but our eyes met for a whole minute. I had my wife and daughter with me and so Holly did not approach me. However, when I looked into her eyes, I saw a past life, a life full of adventures, hope, and friendship. Yet that past was clouded over. I know why. We were both seeing our dear friend Domovoi Butler laid into the ground. He departed us swiftly and with little warning. But I feel as if he had no regrets. He had lived a full life. He never married, just stayed on as a butler to my family. I encouraged him to find himself a family, but our experiences together made him stay, I think. I miss him already. I hope to see him again some day...not yet, no. But some day._

Excerpt from Holly's Journal:

_Today is my 176th birthday. To imagine I started this journal 92 years ago following my kidnapping by Artemis Fowl the Second. The last time the boy and I worked together to save the People from discovery or destruction was when he was 15. Today, he would've been 104 year's old. I saw him today. His funeral was this morning. His life was a long one for a mere mud man, but it pales in comparison to my own. I still have centuries before me to live, but I shall have to live them without my mud boy. Perhaps it's childish to miss a mortal man that I had not seen or heard from for so many years and whom I'm sure never shared my feelings, but he shall forever remain in my heart. At his funeral today, I wore Foaly's holographer to make me appear like a human, it just brought back memories of the old times. Sad memories of dancing with a small boy before heading off to once more save the People. Something interesting happened that I feel worth mentioning. His daughter, Holly approached me after the service. She asked me my name and I replied Holly Short Kelp. She looked relieved to find me. She said she had something her father had left in his Will for me. I was mystified yet nevertheless followed the aging woman to her car. She opened the trunk. I gasped for it was all of the boy's paintings that I had seen that day many year's ago in his private study. Paintings of our adventures and people we both knew. The woman whom I know was named Holly Fowl said her father had left specific instructions that these paintings were to be given to me after the funeral. The mud man had even left a description of my appearance so that his daughter could find me. That Artemis could even be annoyingly all-knowing after death. I had to chuckle. The woman said there was also something else. She went to the glove compartment and pulled out a box of CDs, pathetic human technology as Foaly would say. The woman said that the CDs were under code, and that the password was 'Gold is not Power,' in Latin of course. I thanked Artemis' daughter and accepted the paintings and CDs. The memories behind these brought tears to my eyes and I thought back to a conversation a I had with Foaly when the boy and I were taking on Jon Spiro: "Will you miss him?" Yes, I would! I had to cry after that and so wrapped the paintings in cham foil then attached the foil to my moon belt. I left shortly after that and now I'm here, crying at home. I am going to donate most of the paintings to an art museum nearby that I can visit as often as I would like, but I am keeping one, just one. I thought, when I first saw these paintings, that I would forever keep and cherish the one of commander Root, but that one will go with the rest to the museum. No, I ended up keeping the painting of Artemis and myself in swirling water with are foreheads together, finding comfort in each other's eyes. I still feel comfort in those confident eyes that are now saved forever in that picture on my wall. I will never forget that boy. I found out just a few minutes ago that the boy grew into a man who never forgot me or the lessons he claimed I taught him. I just finished going over the CDs. They had been his personal journals. They expressed all the emotions he had never showed in his waking life. I feel as if I've just met the real Artemis Fowl, the one with a heart. He loved me, his journals never strayed from that fact. The boy had a way for playing with a fairy's emotions, but the man had realized his own. This shall be my last journal, as they remind me too much of Artemis Fowl the Second. Holly out._

**The End**

**A/N: **So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Ugly? I thought it was neat twist on what everyone wants to happen. Anyway, Thanks for reading and a review would be nice. I always like reading the readers' input. This story was supposed to include another sub-plot, but I thought it ruined the mood I had been trying to set up. I've decided to type it up as a whole other story. Look for it in about two weeks. Till then, Tiki Rane Gobell out!


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